Confusion
by CynicalHoneyBadger
Summary: Marco Fletcher joins Waterloo Road as a ladies man, something he has always been. So when he develops feelings for the youngest Fitzgerald son, he is left confused over who he really is, and who his friends really are. (Sorry for the bad summary) (Rated T for language mainly) (Leoxmale!OC if you don't like, don't read)
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Waterloo Road or any of the characters in the story**

**(I've made Leo in Year 11 for this because idk what year he's in. Also for this, Justin and Tiffany are going to already be in a relationship, but Vaughn and Allie won't be, if that makes any sense.)**

**Chapter 1**

A pair of black creepers stomped onto the concrete as the boy climbed out the car. The boy wore a pair of black skinny jeans along with the obligatory blazer and shirt with their sleeves rolled up to his elbows and his shirt was not tucked in, and his tie was loose. His obviously dyed orange hair was styled by spiking the ends, and his obviously overgrown fringe was pushed back and styled the same way. He had plain metal rings across his left hand fingers. His face was also littered with metal; his ears were pierced multiple times, with a gauge in his right ear. He had a labret stud in the centre of the bottom of his lip. He was joined by a woman with a business-like appearance, completely contrasting the younger boy.

"Hello, I'm Mr Fitzgerald; you must be Mrs Fletcher, and Marcus."

"It's Marco." The boy mumbled, receiving a glare from his mother.

"Well we'll go to my office; we can sign the last of the paperwork." The pair followed Vaughn to his large office, in there was a secretary pottering around in her high heels, with a cheery smile on her face.

"Sonya, can you pull out the policies for me please."

"Yes Mr Fitzgerald." The young woman said, dropping her previous task and started rummaging through a filing cabinet.

Marco and his mum joined Vaughn, as the door was closed behind him.

"So, we just have a few things for the both of you to sign before we can get Marcus in lessons."

The boy rolled his blue eyes, obviously agitated by the use of his full name.

"Also, Marcus' grades seem to have been slipping from what we've been seeing."

"He can get easily distracted; the boy has the attention span of a goldfish sometimes." His mother said, quite sharply. "He seems to think having a girlfriend is more important than his education."

Marco just had to bite his tongue, avoiding eye contact with anyone in the room.

"Well, we'll make sure he's no trouble. He seems to be good at sports. We could do with a hand on a few of our sports teams."

"How about that Marcus? Get yourself on a few sports teams."

"I'll think about it." The boy sighed, with his cockney accent.

Just then Sonya knocked on the door with the papers.

"So this is the school's code of conduct, we'll need you both to read through and sign." Mr Fitzgerald explained, though Marco felt like he was signing his life away.

"Your uniform policy is quite lax, isn't it?" Marco's mother enquired, though Marco was more than happy with the policy.

"We believe that if we allow the students leeway of self-expression, they will be happier, though the piercings will have to come out for PE."

"That's fine by me." The boy shrugged.

"If it were up to me you'd have all those awful things out your face." His mother sneered. "Kids, eh? Tell them something they just do the opposite."

"Well, that' everything, here's your timetable Marco, and a school map so you don't get lost."

"Thanks, can I go now?" The boy asked. Mr Fitzgerald nodded as the boy exited the room, checking his timetable before folding it into his jeans pocket, unaware of the conversation happening in the office.

* * *

><p>"I'm sorry to dump him on you; I bet you already have your fair share of trouble makers without me bringing him along."<p>

"I assure you he's in capable hands."

"It's not him I'm worried about. The boy is out of control. I hoped to send him here but if not he's off to boarding school."

"The boy's not long turned 16, he's bound to be a typical teenaged boy. His record isn't the best, but we've seen worse."

"Just tell me if he gets into any trouble. He's been told all about boarding school if he messes this up, so if he's any trouble don't hesitate to contact me."

"We will do Mrs Fletcher."

* * *

><p>"<em>English with Miss Mulgrew." <em>Marco sighed; he was never good at English, so he was not looking forward to this. He nervously ran his tongue bar along his bottom teeth.

Following his map to the correct classroom, Marco took a deep breath, trying to shake off any first day nerves. Then he knocked on the door.

"Come in." A woman called. Miss Mulgrew seemed like the average teacher, but his mother's words about boarding school rang through his head, so he decided he actually had to try at this place to make sure he didn't get shipped to an overly strict school.

"Hi, I'm Marco Fletcher, the new boy starting today."

"Hello Marco, there's a spare seat next to Leo over there."

Marco walked over to the boy sitting alone.

The class then began to catch Marco up on what they'd been doing. Of Mice and Men was book they were studying, and Marco vaguely remembered starting it in his last school, but never actually finishing the book, since he chose to watch the movie instead , so the summary by the class was a great help.

"So Marco, what was your take on the book?" Miss Mulgrew asked, as the whole class turned to face him.

"Well, the book was a bit boring at first, but then it got a bit better, but the ending was really sad how George and Lenny will never have their dream." Marco grinned, happy with his on the spot answer, he was always better when put under pressure.

"Great, that's a nice round answer. However, in an exam this is something that we don't include." Miss Mulgrew stated, reverting Marco's cocky grin to a scowl.  
>"Your own personal opinions don't matter in an exam, so even if you hate the book, you have to talk about it the same way as someone who really loved it."<p>

Marco then zoned out of Miss Mulgrew's lecture about exam answers, though seemed to zone out a little too much, as when he snapped back into reality, she was already talking about something else. A wife of someone in the book.

"Right, homework is to write an SA about Curley's Wife and her link to the theme of the American Dream, its due in next week."

Marco sighed, he hated SA's, and he just hoped he wasn't going to be the only one with a bad grade.

When the bell rang, he quickly pulled out his timetable, and saw he had science with Mrs Lowsley, yet another subject he was terrible at.

He sauntered to the classroom, entering to see a young redheaded teacher, looking rather panicked at the front of the room.

"You must be the new boy, Marcus. There's a spare seat next to Leo." She said dismissively.

"It's Marco." He corrected her, sighing and walking to his seat.

Then the teacher began where the last lesson had ended, which was fine for everyone else, but Marco was completely lost. He hadn't done this topic yet in his old school, so this was just going way over his head.

"Marco, can you tell us the answer to the first question?" The teacher asked. Marco's eyes just widened, unlike English, he couldn't just make up an answer and hope it was right.

"I dunno miss." He said, with a fake grin plastered on his face.

"Then what have you been doing for the past half an hour?" She asked walking over to him, picking his book up, seeing it blank, and his textbook on the wrong page.

"Are you ignorant or just stupid?" She asked, as the class giggled. "The page numbers are on the board."

"I know, I can read." Marco retorted. "If you'd bothered to ask like a proper teacher would, you would've known I haven't covered this topic in my old school, so of course I'm not going to know the answer, but if familiarising myself with the topic isn't allowed, you might as well stick me with a U now so I don't have to bother coming in here and listen to you drone on."

"Cooler, now."

"Why, because I'm right?" The boy chuckled.

"Because you're a cocky, arrogant little boy who's disrupting everyone else's learning."

"Fair do's." The boy shrugged, surprisingly calm. He grabbed his bag and sauntered out the classroom. "Bye." He said comically, making the class giggle.

Reaching the cooler he knocked on the door, and an older teacher opened the door.

"Come in and sit down." He said with a bored tone.

Marco just rested his head on the desk. His first day was probably couldn't go much worse.

He mumbled under his breath. "Fuck this place."

**AN: So I came up with Marco since I don't see too many Male OCs. I'm still continuing with my AU fic, but since the chapters to that take a lot longer to write than this will, I'm putting this on too. Hope you enjoy ^_^**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Waterloo Road or any of the characters in the story**

**Chapter 2**

After exiting the cooler, Marco made his way up to art, with a Miss Westbrook.

"Ah, you must be Marcus." The teacher asked, though Marco was getting tired of having to correct his name.

"I go by Marco." He corrected, though in a friendlier tone, at least this teacher wasn't a complete pain in the backside.

"There's a spare seat over there, next to Tiffany."

Marco looked over to Tiffany. The girl was cute; she was small with ginger hair. She had doe-like eyes, ad a kind smile.

Marco smirked at her as he sat down.

"Hi, I'm Marco." He said confidently

"I'm Tiffany. How've you liked school so far?"

"It's alright, Mrs Lowsley is the world's worst teacher, but apart from that it's all good."

"Are you wearing eyeliner?" One of Tiffany's friends asked curiously, with a thick Scottish accent.

"Yeah, makeup isn't just for girls you know. Plenty of men do it."

"I wish more would." The girl mumbled, just loud enough for Marco to hear.

"What's your name sweetheart?" The boy asked, making the brunette girl blush.

"I-I'm Elizabeth, but people just call me Lizzie." The girl stammered.

"That's a cute name Lizzie. It suits you." Marco replied, with the girl just staring at him being very flustered.

Miss Westbrook set the class to draw a piece taking inspiration from anything they could find in the class. Marco immediately began working on an anime styled drawing of the two girls sitting near him, drawing them on a phone screen, as if they'd just taken a selfie.

"Wow, that's really good… wait is that me?" Tiffany asked looking over.

"Yeah, that's you, and that's Lizzie. Miss Westbrook did say to take inspiration from anything in the class, and I couldn't help myself. "The boy replied, grinning, as Tiffany rolled her eyes, obviously she wasn't interested in the flirting, but Marco knew it never hurt to try.

"Well it's really good; it looks like a Japanese style thing."

"Yeah, I geek out to that stuff, everyone has one thing they like that's a bit out of character." The boy said, slapping himself internally for the idiocy of revealing his guilty pleasure.

"Oh my god! That's adorable!" Lizzie squealed. "Is that me and you Tiff?"

"Yeah, it's really good isn't it?"

"Wow you're so good at drawing! We look so cute!"

"Not as cute as you are in real life." Marco flirted.

"You three seem rather chatty, are you finished?" Miss Westbrook asked.

"Marco is Miss. It's so cool! He's drawn me and Tiffany."

Allie went over to have a look and was impressed and surprised by the boy's talent. She was never one to judge, but he didn't seem like the arty type.

"This is great Marco, where did you learn that style?"

"I like the style in Japanese anime, so I took inspiration from them and the girls. I was going to colour it, but I don't know if it's better black and white."

"That's completely up to you. You do have time."

Marco nodded, grabbing a few coloured pencils and started colouring, he was so intently focused on getting it perfect, he didn't notice a few of Lizzie's friends come over as the bell was about to go. They all stared at the boy, whose gaze was locked onto the piece of paper in front of him.

"...Yeah, it's me and Tiffany." Lizzie said, and for an unknown reason, this snapped Marco out of his trance and he looked over at the group of girls next to him.

"Hi ladies, what can I do for you?"

"Um- your drawing is really cool." One girl spoke up.

"Yeah, you're really good."

Marco was feeling his ego boost by the minute. He loved the attention. "If you ladies want, next time I'll draw all of you."

"You will?"

"Of course, how could I say no to such a pretty face?" Marco asked, as most of the girls were beetroot red.

"Do you want to stand with us at break, I think we both have History afterwards, we could walk together if you want." Lizzie asked shyly.

Quickly checking his timetable, he did indeed share the class with Lizzie. He turned to her and gave her a warm smile.

"That would be great, thanks Lizzie."

"No problem."

As the bell rang for break, Marco walked out the classroom with the group of girls all conversing with him.

"Did your piercings hurt?" A blonde girl asked.

"Some more than others, but not that much they aren't as bad as people say."

Tiffany rolled her eyes as she moved away from the group and was joined by an older looking boy.

"Who's this Tiff?" He asked.

"Oh, this is the new guy, Marco. Lizzie's head over heels for him and he hasn't even been here a day yet."

"She doesn't seem to be the only one." Justin replied as Marco laughed along with the group of girls by the lockers.

"Don't worry; you're the only one I'm interested in." Tiffany whispered, kissing Justin's cheek.

* * *

><p>Marco continued talking with the group of girls, when a rough looking boy walked over to them.<p>

"You're Marco Fletcher, right?"

"The one and only, how can I help?" Marco's over confident reply got him dirty looks from the other boy.

"Mr Reid wanted me to ask you if you wanted to try out for the football team. We've heard how sporty you are and…"

"…thanks, but no thanks, I'm not a footballer. Never have been. Do you have any other teams I could join up on?"

"I captain nearly all the sports teams we have, mate; you're seriously turning down a chance to play football with us."

"Like I said, I'm not a footballer. I'm not very good."

"Well there's the athletics team, which is on Thursday lunchtime, but it changes to nights after school in the warmer months…" The boy continued to list the sports teams until one he said caught his attention.

"Tell Mr Reid that I'm interested in the athletics." The boy just looked at him with a shocked expression. "What?"

"We've struggled getting people for athletics."

"Well aren't they stupid. It's just a bit of running."

"We'll see you Thursday lunch."

"Well it looks like Thursdays are going to be busy for me. Thanks for the help…uh… what's your name again?"

"Brandon. Brandon Henning."

"Right, well thanks, I'll give those a shot." Marco replied happily, as the boy nodded and walked off. He turned his attention back to the girls.

"So you're going to be on the athletics team?"

"You'll give Brandon a run for his money."

"I don't know about that." Marco replied modestly.

When the bell finally rang for the next lesson, Marco walked along the corridor chatting to his new found friends until he reached his classroom. The teacher was older, and the classroom was littered with history related posters. You couldn't mistake the room for being involved with any other subject.

"You're Miss McFall, right?" Marco asked, deciding to get the introduction over and done with. "I'm Marco Fletcher, the new student."

""Nice to meet you Marco, we're doing Medicine through time at the minute, are you familiar with the topic?"

"Yeah, I should be fine." He replied.

"Well, there's a spare seat over next to Leo."

'_There always seems to be' _The orange haired boy thought as he slumped over to the desk and got ready for the lesson as Miss McFall started rambling about something not related to medicine through time.

"Hey, not trying to sound rude, but how come you're always on your own?" Marco whispered over to Leo while Miss McFall continued her tangent.

"I never really fit in." Leo shrugged, obviously trying to concentrate.

Sensing he wasn't getting anywhere with the conversation, Marco too decided to pay attention and actually managed to do some work during the lesson.

When the bell rang for lunch, Marco was joined by Lizzie and her friends.

"Hey, what do you guys know about Leo?" Marco asked, annoyed the boy wasn't exactly friendly with him before.

"Leo?" Lizzie asked while thinking. "Oh! Leo Fitzgerald, well he's a geek, always gets really good grades, really shy, why?"

"Oh no reason, just curious that all."

**AN: So I'm ending the second chapter there, I hope you like it ^-^ I promise Marco and Leo will talk a bit more in a few chapters, but they aren't exactly similar, so yeah.**

**I hope you're enjoying this and I love everyone who reads/reviews/follows/favourites this. **

**See you next chapter :D**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Waterloo Road or any of the characters in the story**

**Chapter 3**

The next few days were pretty uneventful for Marco. He had managed to endure a full lesson of Miss Spark this time, and was learning the ropes with the school. As well as having a lot more friends, as well as the girls who swooned over him, Brandon and his group of friends were all quite nice to him.

Although there were a few that annoyed him. In particular, two girls that lingered around the café – Lisa and Shaznay. It wasn't as if the girls had actually done anything to him, but their attitude towards everyone else was appalling, they were nothing but bullies.

Thursday had rolled around, and after having met Mr Reid, he was happy he was a nice enough guy for teams, and was more than happy to be getting back into sports. All the studying and no exercise had made him super conscious over his loss of muscle mass.

"Good luck!" Lizzie said as she headed off for lunch, her brunette ringlets bouncing as she walked.

"Not coming to cheer me on?" Marco asked feigning hurt.

"Sorry, pizza awaits. Nobody gets in between me and my pizza."

"I'm not making that mistake ever again." Marco mumbled, as the girl punched his arm playfully.

"Well next time get your own damn pizza." Her attention quickly turned to the door as her friends started walking out. "Don't leave me!" The girl squeaked speed walking over to them, making Marco laugh. He'd only known the girl a few days and she was so comfortable with him.

Marco went and made his way over to the changing rooms where he quickly got changed into his kit and entered the sports hall.

"Guys, Marco's here to try out for team, we'll have a full team if he's good enough."

The group stretched and warmed up and then got ready to start some sprints in the hall. The team was split in two groups, and they had to run to a cone at the bottom of the hall and run back and pass the baton to the next person. First team to get all persons back wins. It was simple enough, but Marco's competitive spirit was starting to get him pumped.

The teams flew up and down the hall, quickly passing the baton. Each group was cheering for their teammate currently running. Brandon was the last in the group for Marco's team, and he was not being beat easily. The short male was like a whippet in speed. And quickly got passed the line as the team cheered, and Harley wasn't too far behind. Brandon walked over to Harley and patted him on the back.

"Not bad considering you're our long distance runner." He praised, sounding slightly out of breath. Brandon was a natural leader through and through, he never seemed to let anyone in the group feel defeatist if the type of athletic being practised wasn't their strong point. This guy did all of this, and still captained the football team. He was seriously the definition of a true team captain, even if he was a bit full on at times.

"Hey you're not bad Marco." Brandon said walking out the changing rooms clutching a bottle of water.

"Thanks, I guess." The taller boy shrugged, fiddling with his piercings to put them all back in.

"How'd you do it, though? You've not been here a week and I've hardly seen you without a girl by your side."

"I don't know, I guess the girls just love me. I've always found it easy, I just don't overthink it. I don't want a girlfriend, so I'm happy talking to the girls without getting in too deep."

"You've got to be careful mate; the girls up here are a bit different than the girls you're probably used to."

"I've noticed." Marco replied, remembering how he was nearly savaged for trying to steal a slice of Lizzie's pizza.

"You're more than welcome to hang out with us any time, especially if you bring your friends along."

"Thanks for the offer." Marco replied, feigning a smile.

The pair walked along to the café where Brandon went and sat with his group of friends which included Lisa and Shaznay. Of course the boy would have one major personality flaw, his choice in friends couldn't be worse.

"Guys this is Marco."

"Alright." Shaznay greeted half-heartedly, chewing her gum obnoxiously loud.

"Hi." The orange haired boy replied, trying not to sound like he wanted to be anywhere else but with these people.

He looked around to see if Lizzie and her friends had returned from her pizza venture, and was relieved to see her by the stairs.

"Sorry the stay was so short, I've got to go. Nice meeting you guys." Marco apologised, making his way to Lizzie, and her friends he'd learned to be Anna, the short blonde, Hayley the one who wore far too much make-up and Milly, the shy girl with the dip dyed brown/blonde hair, as well as Tiffany, who didn't hang around with the girls regularly, but showed her face from time to time.

"So did you make the team?" Lizzie asked.

"Yeah, wasn't too hard." Marco replied with the usual cocky smirk plastered on his face.

"Be glad I wasn't there. My good looks would've put you off."

"I might just need to steal your pizza slice and not have to train for a week."

"You'd be missing a hand mate." The curly haired girl joked. It was strange that Brandon's statement hit him now, but it did. Marco had known Lizzie 4 days and he felt more comfortable around her than what he did around some of his friends back at home, but there was no romantic feelings at all. He couldn't muster up any if he tried. She was a beautiful girl and all, and she would be the type he usually went for, so he didn't understand how he felt like he wanted Lizzie as a really close friend, and nothing more.

"Are you in my English class?" he asked rather suddenly.

"I don't think so, who do you have?"

"Miss Mulgrew."

"Nah, I have Mr Lowsley, how come you're asking?"

"It's just some Of Mice and Men SA I have to do and I haven't even started, I have no clue what to write."

"I'm not doing your SA for you, lazy shit."

"Ughh! Fine I'll do it myself, thanks for the help." Marco sighed loudly faking an annoyed tone.

"Don't you have English tomorrow?"

"Yeah but we do poetry on Fridays, how fun for me?"

"It'll pay off in the end."

'_I hope it does.'_

**AN: So this one is shorter than the previous two because I did want to write about Marco's trial, but kind of didn't know what else to put in the chapter, so hey lets develop his and Lizzie's friendship bc why not. I have the idea set for interaction between Leo and Marco in the next chapter.**

**Love everyone who reads reviews etc.**

**See you next chapter :D**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own Waterloo Road or any of the characters in the story**

**Chapter 4**

The weekend flew by far too quickly for Marco's liking. Even though he had a great weekend spent out with Tiffany, Lizzie and their friends, he still spent ages stressing over his SA, he knew the consequences if he failed, he had to do well from the get go, otherwise it was going to be difficult.

So that's why when he handed his SA, his nervousness turned to dread, as everyone's SA's looked much longer, had more paper, so probably included more detail.

"Everyone else's looked like 6 pages long, mine was barely 3. That's got to mean something." He stressed over lunch with his friends.

"Remember Marco, its quality not quantity." Lizzie replied coolly scrolling through her phone. "You shouldn't stress about it, you'll be fine."

"Whatever." He sighed, resting his head on the table out of fatigue.

"How long where you up writing that thing?" Tiffany asked.

"All night, I haven't slept since Friday night." The boy murmured, half asleep. He grimaced as Lizzie slapped the back of his head. He sat up, rubbing his head where he'd just been assaulted.  
>"Ow! What the hell was that for?"<p>

"You need to look after yourself! Look at the state of you."

"Thanks Lizzie." Marco sighed sarcastically.

"I'm serious; you shouldn't be losing sleep over a stupid SA."

"It's kind of a big deal that I don't fail anything though. My parents are shipping my off to Cloverfields in London if I don't."

"Isn't that a super strict boarding school though?" Tiffany asked.

"Yeah, one of the top schools in the country though. Apparently it will knock me into shape."

"Wow; your parents sound fun." Lizzie replied rolling her eyes.

"Yep, they're the life and soul of any party." Marco retorted in the same sarcastic tone.

"Honestly, don't get too worried about it; you'll only make yourself ill."

"I guess so. I suppose I can drown my sorrows in pizza if I fail."

"That's the spirit!" Lizzie cheered.

* * *

><p>The rest of the week seemed to be uneventful for Marco, training with the athletics team was fun, he met a few of the other team, a girl called Kacey, a boy called Harley and a boy called Lenny, who was also on the football team, and surprisingly the twin of Lisa.<p>

However, Marco was chugging energy drinks like there was no tomorrow, and couldn't wait to just sleep all weekend, as his all-nighter had caught up to him quickly. No matter what he did to hide his fatigue, it wasn't enough, as when it finally came around to Friday, he had large dark circles round his eyes.

He slumped into the school with a coffee cup in his hand, and headed over to Lizzie. His usual appearance was slightly dishevelled, his hair was covered with a black beanie, and his eyes were half lidded.

"Oh wow, a beanie, it must be a bad hair day! Not trying to sound bad, but you don't look that great."

"I'm so fucking tired." The boy yawned, taking a drink from his coffee cup. "I'm running on caffeine 'til the end of school."

"I told you that staying up so late was a bad idea." Lizzie mumbled, not showing any sympathy.

"Save the 'I told you so' for when I can be arsed please. I seriously just need to go to sleep." The boy sighed, shaking his now empty cup.

"Well no more caffeine. It's not good for you." Lizzie snatched away his empty coffee cup.

"Okay mum." Marco joked, receiving a playful punch from the curly haired girl.

"I'm serious! You don't want that pretty face of yours getting ruined, do we?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I've seen your tumblr and Instagram." Lizzie raised her eyebrow and smirked. "Your vanity is overwhelming. How many likes did you last photo get?" She asked while scrolling through her phone.

"Right, I get it, I'm gorgeous." Marco joked. "Now you've finished stalking my profiles, do I get to return it?"

"No way!" The girl said quickly changing her tone. "A girl's blog is like her diary, only sharing what she wants; my tumblr is off limits to anyone who knows me. It's just how it goes."

"Why? Got something to hide?" The boy taunted.

"W-what, no, it's just I reblog stuff and bitch about people and I find it hard enough to get a boyfriend as it is. If my blog gets around, I'm probably going to end up as a crazy cat lady."

"Right." The boy agreed sarcastically as two made their way inside.

"Remove the hat please." A teacher said, as the pair had barley reached their lockers. Marco snatched the beanie from his head and stuffed it in his pocket with a scowl on his face.

"Awww, is someone having a bad day?" Lizzie taunted.

"School isn't even half over yet, and I'm ready to go home." The boy mumbled grabbing some stuff from his locker.

"At least we have double art, so you get to spend more time with me."

"Eww, that makes it even worse!" The boy laughed.

* * *

><p>"Oh my god, he's drawn all of us, like he said he would!" One of the girls said, looking at Marco's sketch, since the first lesson of art was nearly over, the students were waiting for the bell to go before break.<p>

"I love the way you draw Lizzie's hair! It's so hard to draw."

"Thanks." Lizzie replied coldly.

"Don't worry, your hair's beautiful." Marco comforted whimsically, amused by how easy the girl took offense.

"Are you two, like, an item?" One girl asked, and the pair just looked at each other and giggled.

"Nah, I don't like gingers." Lizzie replied elbowing Marco.

"I'm not ginger, my hair's not natural!"

"Fake or not, you're still a carrot top, and like I said, I don't like gingers."

"I'm sure you said you like…."

"…No, I said nothing." Lizzie interrupted. "He's such a dickhead. I have better taste."

"Me? You're the one who nearly killed me over pizza."

"And deservingly so too. I know when I find my perfect guy because I won't mind it if he steals my food."

"And they say romance is dead." Marco replied in a bored tone, resulting in a pencil being thrown off his head by the small brunette. "Plus, you're really violent."

"Only because I care darling." She giggled.

"So, you're single?" A girl asked.

"Yeah I am. I don't know if I need a serious relationship right now though."

"True, you do have a lot on, you've just moved, you're doing exams, you're on a sports team. You mustn't have time for a girlfriend."

"Why do I need a girlfriend when I have all you lovely ladies who make me happy every day? Friends always come before relationships."

Lizzie just rolled her eyes. How quickly the boy changed from over-worked, tired pain in the butt to flirty, charismatic ladies' man was beyond her. She had to admit she fell for it at first, but as charming as the act was, it was just that, an act.

After an uneventful break and the next lesson of art consisting of Marco flirting with the girls and arguing with Lizzie over some obscure topic, the bell ringing for lunch was like music to his ears.

Well it would but as he was walking out the door to the local chip shop, he was hit with the realization that quickly snapped him out of his sleep deprived thoughts, making him stop in his tracks.

"What it is?" Lizzie asked.

"I left my wallet on the kitchen bench this morning; I don't remember even picking it up this morning."

"Its fine, I'll pay, you can pay me back." Lizzie offered.

"Nah, I hate owing people money. I don't know why but I just prefer not to."

"C'mon, you can't go hungry."

"I'll be fine, I have change, I'll get a bottle of water and I'll eat later."

"You sure, you can still come along."

"And be tempted by all the food, no thanks. Last time I came along and didn't buy anything my hand nearly got torn off."

"Fine." Lizzie huffed dejectedly. "I'll see you later, and if I don't, you better not make up; 'til 2pm tomorrow or I'll hunt you down."

"Got it." Marco nodded, as the girl left with her group of friends, leaving him alone, which hadn't happened since he'd arrived, but he sought it as a perfect opportunity to go to the library while everyone would be eating and catch up on some sleep.

Walking into the library, Marco was disappointed when he heard someone typing on a keyboard, so he wasn't exactly going to go to sleep, which made his sleep deprived state seem even worse than before. He walked further into the library, seeing no point in going back to spend whatever change he had in his pocket.

Coming into sight as he walked further was the source for the tapping on the keyboard, Leo Fitzgerald. The boy was slumped in the seat, head resting in his hand as he half-heartedly typed up some assignment.

"Leo, right?" Marco asked, making the boy jump a little as he turned to face him.

"Yeah." The boy replied quietly.

"Sorry if I surprised you, I just thought you looked a bit lonely." Marco said sitting on a nearby chair. "Do you always spend your lunches here?"

"No, normally me and my brother go and get lunch, but since he's been seeing Tiffany we haven't really seen too much of each other in school."

"Wow, normally I'm avoiding my brothers like the plague." Marco stated jokingly. Leo cracked a smile. "Seriously though, do you not ever get lonely being on your own on the time?"

"I don't really have a choice, I get good grades and the head teacher's my dad. I'm hardly the person people want to be friends with."

"Ughh, I'd hate for my Dad to be head teacher."

"Yeah, it's a pain."

"I bet, but you aren't your Dad, so don't put yourself down. Even if friends are hard to come by here, they probably won't be if you head off to uni in a couple years, since most people there are really smart too." Realising what he'd just said, Marco internally cringed, and stopped himself saying anything else. _'That is not how you talk to someone who's got no friends, idiot.'  
><em>"Sorry, I didn't mean it in a bad way."

"No, I get it."

The boys continued talking, though Marco more than Leo, as the library stared filling with more students.

"Marco!" A familiar voice spoke up, as he turned and saw Lizzie waving at him.

"Fancy coming along?" Marco asked standing up.

"Nah, I'm alright."

"Well I'll see you around." Marco replied, smiling at the boy. He then made his way over to his bubbly friend.

"What were you doing with Leo?" One of his friends asked.

"He looked lonely. I was just being nice."

"Good deed of the day done, then." Lizzie enquired. Marco just smiled, walking with his friends out to the yard.

* * *

><p>Last lesson had finally rolled around, and although Miss Mulgrew was going on about poetry, all Marco could think about was going to sleep. He was struggling keeping his eyes open as the class discussed the war poets they'd be studying, though Marco really didn't want to read poems about people dying. So when the clock delighted Marco with the news he only had a few minutes until he could go home, his concentration completely disappeared.<p>

"I know this is your poetry class, but I have your SA's from Monday. Anyone who got below a C needs to get it redone for next week." Miss Mulgrew's statement snapped Marco out of dreamland, and he felt his stomach doing flips.

The class collectively groaned as the blonde teacher walked round putting papers back onto the desks of the students, some breathed a sigh of relief, others looked disappointed. As Miss Mulgrew put the paper on Marco's desk, he debated for a split second whether to look at it straight away, or wait 'til his sleep deprived brain could comprehend a bit more, but curiosity got the better of him, and he took a glance down, and saw a big red D on the top of the page.

'_I stayed up all night, for what?'_ the boy just sighed as Leo was handed his paper and he could see the A at the top of the page.

'_He may not have friends, but damn, I wish I was as clever as him.'_

Then it dawned on Marco, if he wanted to avoid boarding school, he'd have to swallow his pride and get help, and starting racking his brain for options.

The students quickly exited the question as the bell rang.

"Hey, Leo." Marco called, as the boy turned around, he found himself instantly regretting shouting him over.  
>"Well done for the SA, you got an A right?" Marco asked, feeling stupid, and rather cowardly for avoiding the real reason he asked him over.<p>

"Yeah, I was surprised myself."

Taking a deep breath, Marco just ignored his pride telling him to stop speaking.

"I know this could be a weird question, and I understand if you don't want to, but I was wondering if you could help me with my SA's."

**AN: Omg this is so long, sorry :P**

**Leaving it there, because it's a good place to start off next chapter, but the boys are talking now at least ^_^**

**Thanks for every read, review, favourite or follow**

**See you next chapter!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own Waterloo Road or any of the characters in the story**

**Chapter 5**

"_I know this could be a weird question, and I understand if you don't want to, but I was wondering if you could help me with my SA's."_

Leo was confused by the boy's question. He didn't seem like the type to be studious, never mind ask someone for help with his school work.

"Like tutoring?" Leo asked

"Yeah. I'll pay you, if you want." Marco offered.

Leo quickly racked through the pros and cons of doing this, and he came to the conclusion he had nothing to lose by helping him.

"Yeah, it'll be fine."

"Really?!" Marco replied sounding shocked. "How much do you want?"

"No, I don't need any money."

The boy's shock remained plastered on his face. "Oh my god thanks so much! Honestly, you're a life saver."

"It's not a problem." Leo replied; unsure whether the Marco's thanks were sincere or if he was just being melodramatic.

"Is Monday after school good for you?"

Yeah, that's fine with me, I'll see you then."

* * *

><p>"Ughh, I give up, there's no way I can do this." Marco complained, resting his head on the desk.<p>

"We've only been here 10 minutes; that might be your problem." Leo pointed out, making the taller boy sit up. He noticed the boy still sounded very shy and awkward, but Marco knew he wasn't making life easy for him.

"Easy for you to say, you can write an essay in fifteen minutes and still get at least a B."

"I doubt it. You were the one that asked me to be here."

"Yeah, but I don't get how I got a D, I mentioned stuff you did in yours and I failed."

"Did you use quotes?"

"No, I can use quotes?" Marco retorted.

"Yeah, you get marks for them if you use them properly."

"Damn, I thought you weren't allowed to quote the book. So, that's the only place I went wrong."

"You didn't mention much about how she looks."

"I avoided that bit, again, didn't think we were allowed to point out she was putting herself out there."

"Miss Mulgrew always says to us if it's in the book we can write about it. So we can."

"Wow. I missed out a bit then."

"It wasn't _that_ bad. You probably would've passed if you had've put quotes in."

The boys then looked at the next SA set by Miss Mulgrew, about the theme of loneliness in the book. Leo explained things through, making Marco feel kind of silly for not getting it before.

"So do you kind of get it now?" Leo asked.

"Yeah, thanks, you explained it well." Marco replied smiling, as the two packed their stuff away, and headed towards the doors, as Leo stopped, seeing an empty space in his Dad's car parking space. He sighed, knowing he had no money for the bus, he was stuck walking home, and it was starting to look quite gloomy.

Marco turned around to see the boy slowly shuffling down the steps, as the first spots of rain appeared on the pavement. Realising he'd been left, he walked over to Leo.

"Sorry, it's my fault you had to stay late."

"No, it's fine honestly."

"Will you stop saying everything's fine? If you're pissed off I wouldn't blame you."

Leo flinched at the boy's bluntness, but did understand where he was coming from. "I thought they'd at least ask, you know. Comes to something when your own family forget about you."

Sensing the boy was upset; Marco decided to use the Lizzie tactic to cheering people up.

"Do you walk that way?" Marco asked, pointing in the direction to the sea front.

"Yeah, you don't have to walk with me you know."

"That's settled then, I'm walking with you, and we're stopping off for a slice of pizza at the chippy."

"But I don't have any money."

"See it as a thank you for today, and a cheer up present. Friends do that for each other."

Leo felt a wave of happiness hit him. Marco hadn't known him very long at all, but it seemed the red head was determined to not let him be lonely, which both confused him, and made him happy.

The duo headed down the road in a comfortable silence, both wincing slightly when the rain got heavier, as neither of them had come prepared with coats.

"Dam, it's cold!" Marco shivered, shaking the rain droplets out his hair.

Leo could only nod in agreement, the chilling rain was numbing, and the wind wasn't helping with the temperature.

"Still fancy some pizza?" Marco joked, having to talk a bit louder over the wind.

"Nah, don't fancy soggy pizza."

"Good, because I changed my mind. Food can wait."

Leo chuckled at the boy's comment, his attention snapping to the buzz of his phone in his pocket.

"Hello, Dad?" Leo responded. "Yeah, I'm fine. Yeah, yeah…"

Marco couldn't help feel slightly jealous; he couldn't remember the last time he got a phone call from his Dad, never mind one that was just asking if he was okay, but he quickly began shoving the negative thoughts out his head.

"I'm sure, honestly, I'm nearly home. Yeah, okay, see you at home." He then put his phone back in his pocket. "Sorry about that. You know how parents are."

'_No not really'_

"Nah, it's cool. I see you're fan of Ed's." Marco replied, pointing out Leo's ringtone.

"It's from The Hobbit soundtrack. I've not really listened to him much." Leo said, mumbling the first half of the sentence.

"You need to; the man is a lyrical genius. I love what he did for The Hobbit, it really fit the film. I never thought Benedict Cumberbatch would make such a good Smaug either, but he killed it."

Marco turned and saw Leo looking almost shocked. Truth be told, he was a little, he didn't expect the red head to like that kind of movie, though Leo did have to remind himself not be so judgemental.

"What, never thought I'd like Lord of the Rings, did you?"

Leo didn't quite know what to say, he didn't mean to be so judgemental.

"I'll have you know; '12 year old me' won the prize for best costume on World Book Day dressed as Frodo Baggins."

"I wore the same thing to the last world book day I had in Primary school."

The pair laughed and continued talking about their shared interest, discussing their favourite in the trilogy, and completely ignored the fact their walking speed had slowed down, yet the rain hadn't lightened up a bit.

Marco noticed how less shy Leo was in comparison to when he first talked to him. He didn't understand how nobody bothered with him at school, when there were people like Shaznay and Lisa who had a large group of friends, but were awful people.

Leo also noticed Marco was a lot different when he was in school too. He was always surrounded by girls wanting his attention and most of the time he'd have them blushing and telling him how great he was, but his ego wasn't as big as he thought it would be. Marco didn't seem to go by other people's judgements about him, and tried to get to know Leo himself, which a lot people didn't do.

"I'm heading up this way."

"Oh, right, well, I'll see you tomorrow, if we don't have hypothermia." Marco joked.

* * *

><p>Leo opened the door and was immediately hit by the warmth of the house compared to the chill outside, and the first thing on his mind was warming up.<p>

Eventually, he sat with his hands wrapped around a mug of tea in the kitchen

"You took your time." Justin remarked as he walked in and started raiding the fridge.

"Hi to you too." Leo replied, in an equally sarcastic tone.

"Tiffany said she saw you with that Marco kid she hangs round with."

"Oh, yeah, he asked for some help with his English work."

"Is he as brain dead as everyone says he is?" Justin asked, although Leo had never heard anyone comment on Marco, he was shocked at how many people must've been talking about him behind his back.

"He's alright actually."

"Wow, he's the last person I thought you'd be friends with, bro." Justin said chuckling, ruffling his hair as he walked past. "He might set you up with one of his girlfriends."

Leo just rolled his eyes. "No thanks. I'm good."

"Come on Leo, you're what 16 and you've never even kissed a girl, what harm would it do." Justin complained, though Leo cringes internally, he hated when he brought it up.

"Most of them are _Tiffany's_ mates; wouldn't that be a bit weird?"

"Well there are other girls." Justin replied "You'll have to be careful or people might get the wrong idea."

"I've got the picture." Leo sighed as his brother left the room, not knowing how not wanting a girlfriend automatically made people think he wasn't interested in girls, but he assumed it was just his brother's teasing.

* * *

><p>Marco unlocked his door and flicked the switch to turn the lights on, which illuminated his house's open plan space. His sigh of relief to finally be indoors echoed slightly around the empty house, as he made his way to his bedroom, and decided he wasn't going to train tonight, and it was junk food movie marathon night. He put on the largest hoodie he owned with a pair of sweatpants, with his duvet and multiple different packets of crisps and biscuits, and sniffled, feeling the on sets of a cold starting to sink in.<p>

He was having an internal battle over what to watch, whether it would be a comedy, a horror, or something else.

What was the movie he finally settled on?

_Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring._

**AN: So that's chapter 5 finished, I hope it is okay :) Marco's such a nerd :P**

**Thanks for all the reviews, favourites, follows and anyone who read this, you're awesome!**

**See you next chapter :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own Waterloo Road or any of the characters in the story**

**Chapter 6**

Marco shuffled into school with a baggy hoodie over his uniform, his usual care with his appearance had been thrown out the window, as his hair was messy and his nose and eyes were bright red.

"Nice to see you made an effort." Lizzie commented as the boy just scowled at her giggles.

"If I wasn't so drugged up on cold and flu tablets, I would have a good comeback for that." Marco mumbled.

"Aww, has someone got man flu?"

"Or hypothermia." Marco answered. "I got stuck in that rain last night. I'm still fucking freezing."

"You'll be fine, it's just a cold."

Rolling his eyes, Marco just made his way inside hoping it would be warmer inside than it was out.

'_It's just as cold in here. Why the hell am I even here?' _Marco thought as his head pounded, as he tried not to think about the day ahead, but that didn't happen, as Marco, Lizzie and their friends were joined by Brandon, Lisa, Shaznay and their friends.

"Alright, mate?" He asked, stopping Marco in his tracks. "We're having a party on Friday night at Mattie's. I was wondering if you want to come along, you can bring all these lovely ladies too, if you want?"

The last thing on Marco's mind was alcohol, but he was never one to turn down a party.

"Yeah, I should be up for it." He shrugged, knowing he was just using it as an excuse to get drunk, though he didn't really know if he wanted to.

"You girls up for it?" Brandon asked, and all the girls nodded excitedly. "It starts at 8:30." Then he and his group left, leaving all the girls in a full topical conversation over their party outfits.

"Oh I love a good party! You'll love Mattie's parties, they're insane!"

Marco just ignored the girls' chatter and just knew the day couldn't pass quick enough.

* * *

><p>Last lesson of the day was PE, and Marco felt like he was about to pass out. His cold was not getting any better, and he had no energy to even attempt any form of strenuous activity. So when Mr Reid told the group they were doing circuits, Marco knew this wasn't going to be easy.<p>

Mr Reid told everyone to split off into pairs, and most went with their friends, while Brandon and his gang attempted to work with some of the girls.

"Fancy working with me?" A voice spoke up, startling Leo. He turned around to see a familiar red headed boy standing next to him.

"Are you alright with that, I'm terrible at sports? I thought you'd want to work with Brandon"

"So? I'm terrible at science, yet you tolerate me every lesson, and nah, he's too busy thinking about Mattie's party on Friday. You should come along." Marco realised it was probably not Leo's thing, but he would feel terrible not asking.

"Thanks, but I'm not really into parties." Leo replied.

"If I'm honest, I don't really want to go, but I guess I should show my face, or I'll never hear the end of it."

The pair continued talking, and putting next to no effort in their circuit stops and both couldn't be happier when it was time to stop.

"Right guys, see you Thursday." Mr Reid said to the group as they left the gym.

After the final bell, Marco met up with Lizzie, Tiffany, and their friends, who all had the party on their minds.

"I'm staying at Tiff's, so we can have a girl's night after the party."

"Awesome." Marco replied half-heartedly, really too exhausted from his illness to really care about some party.

"Do you have anyone you want to pull?" Lizzie asked, leaving Marco stuttering, he hadn't met half the girls in the school. At his old school the answer would've been _"The fittest girl there, obviously."_ But he thought it was his illness clouding his head, but he couldn't care less about kissing random girls.

"I don't know." Marco shrugged, Lizzie just smirked at him

"Really, because you and Leo Fitzgerald seem to be looking quite cosy."

"Whoa, okay, you've got the wrong picture Lizzie. 1) I'm straight 2) He's not going to the party and 3…"

"…so you invited him then?"

"To be nice."

"Whatever, I ship it." Lizzie shrugged. Making Marco slightly annoyed.

"Do I have to spell it out for you? I like girls, always have, always will."

"Prove it."

"I will on Friday, remember I partied with the pretty girls in Chelsea, maybe none of the girls here are up to my standards."

"Like you're Leonardo DiCaprio." Lizzie snorted.

"I'm better looking than most of the boys in this school."

Lizzie just rolled her eyes. "Any boy who wears eyeliner has to be slightly gay."

"I don't think people can be '_slightly gay' _Lizzie, they're either gay, or straight or whatever else, and that is really stereotypical. The guys in rock bands wear eyeliner, and they have enough groupies for a different girl every day of the month."

"Well if you don't pull at the party, I can assume you're not straight, if eyeliner has so much power."

"Because I'm being nice to someone? That's like me saying Lizzie; you're a lesbian because you're nice to Tiffany, so you must fancy her. Stop living in fantasy land, you're supposed to be my friend, not putting me down for being nice to people."

"I'm just having a laugh, jeez, there's no need to get stroppy."

"Whatever. I just hope this party is as good as everyone is making it out to be."

Marco then made his way home, deciding to push whatever Lizzie had said in the back of his mind,

'_She was kidding, right? There's no way'_

Marco decided he was just being overly sensitive because he had a cold and wasn't fully aware of people joking because of it, but deep in his mind, he wondered if finding a reason why he was so bothered by it would be better than writing it off.

* * *

><p>It was Friday night and Marco was fully recovered from his cold, and had been constantly hounded by Lizzie for the party. In all honesty, all it was doing was making Marco extremely homesick, after speaking with his best friend in London for hours the night before, and remembering their constant partying, he knew he'd rather be with them.<p>

He didn't put too much effort in his appearance, he wore a big pair of New rock boots, a Jack Daniels logo t-shirt with black ripped skinny jeans and a leather jacket, as well as a dog tag necklace.

Lizzie had specifically told him she was getting ready at Tiffany's, and he had to meet them to walk with them so they could gossip with him, which really wasn't what he wanted to do, but it was better than walking alone.

She wore a bright red short dress with high heels, where Tiffany just went for a nice top and a pair of jeans. Lizzie had insisted they were "fashionable late"

"Aw, come on Marco, you could've made more of an effort."

"I have, it's the "I don't give a fuck" look."

"And how are you not freezing?" Tiffany asked realising her friend was missing a coat.

"Beauty has its prices dear, and it would just get lost in anyway."

The trio made their way to the suburban house, where the music already seemed to be blaring and in Marco's opinion, the DJ's music choice was terrible for a party, but he decided to bite his tongue and attempt to enjoy himself.

The party was now in full swing, though it wasn't great to Marco's standards, it was alright. He'd already made Lizzie happy by kissing a few girls, even though he had no clue who they were, and joined her in a game of 'never have I ever' and a few others.

Marco was now standing by the breakfast bar on the table with a plastic cup filled with something with Tiffany, as Lizzie flirted with some of the boys somewhere else in the house.

"I thought this would be your thing." Tiffany responded, barely audible over the music.

"They normally are, this is a pretty shit party. At least Lizzie seems to be enjoying herself."

"She is a bit of a flirty drunk. I hope she doesn't do anything stupid. Maybe I should go speak to her." Tiffany worried.

"She's a big girl. It'll be her fault." Marco shrugged. "She's always talking about wanting a boyfriend."

The two continued talking and laughing until Marco was whipped away by Brandon for reasons unknown to Tiffany, but she knew she just wanted to go home. Marco had only been gone 15 minutes when he popped his head around the corner.

"See you at school Tiff! Bye!" He said sounding overly cheery, but she thought nothing of it, as the both of them had been. She then felt a tap on her shoulder, and saw Lizzie for the first time in an hour or so.

"I'm staying here with Mattie, cover for me though, yeah."

Tiffany just rolled her eyes and agreed, as she rang her mum to pick her up.

* * *

><p>It was the next morning, and Marco woke up on a hard surface, which he realised was a bench on the sea front. His head was killing, but he was unsure why, as he hadn't drank too much the night before. He'd had a lot less sober nights than the previous one. He checked his pockets and was happy he hadn't lost anything while unconscious.<p>

Then, his phone buzzed, and it was a video he had been tagged in from the night before. Unsure when this was actually taken, Marco sat through the video and the reality hit him like a truck.

'_Fuck, someone spiked my drink.'_

As he watched the video unfold, most found it hilarious, though it was just making him feel sick, as it felt like someone had punched him in the stomach. He just shuffled his way back home, and decided to just drink a lot of water and no matter how much pain his head was in, not to take any pain killers in case the drugs were still in his system. He'd always been told to avoid them if he thought his drink had been spiked by his older brothers, who gave up trying to get him to stop partying with his friends.

As he settled on the sofa and his notifications were going wild because of the video, he received a phone call from his best friend's mobile; he knew that would make him feel like less of an idiot.

"Hey, what's up Cory?"

"Hi Marco, its Pauline, Cory's mum. I didn't know how else to contact you…" Something was immediately off; Marco just froze and listened to the cockney accent from the other end of the phone. "…I don't want to be the one to tell you this… but…" The woman sounded incredibly upset, making Marco's stomach sink. "…but Cory's drink got spiked last night, he's overdosed and… we… we don't know if he's going to pull through." Marco could hear the woman sobbing, chocking out her words, and he just tried to deny it. He couldn't face his best friend had just went through a similar thing to himself, but it ended so terribly. "We wanted you to know, you're his best friend after all."

"I understand." Marco spoke softly, taking deep breaths whilst trying to process the news. "Thanks for letting me know Pauline; my thoughts are with you all. Stay positive and keep me posted, yeah?" Marco asked, swallowing the lump forming in his throat.

"Of course. Oh, got to go, the nurse is here." The woman murmured, putting the phone down, leaving Marco to dwell on all the thoughts running through his head.

**AN: Sorry there wasn't too much interaction in this one, the party didn't really go too well – poor Marco. Just to let you all know I'm working a few chapters ahead so hopefully updates shouldn't be too long.**

**I love any readers, reviewers or favourites/follows, it means a lot, so thank you so much!**

**See you all next chapter xx**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own Waterloo Road or any of the characters in the story**

**Chapter 7**

Marco had spent the rest of his weekend feeling sorry for himself or being sick. He didn't know whether it was because of Friday's events or nervousness because of his phone call on Saturday. It was now Monday morning, and he hadn't received any more news on Cory, so Marco assumed nothing had changed.

He entered school as usual, still with a sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach as he saw Lizzie saunter over to him.

"You know you're the talk of the school after Friday night."

"Fascinating." Marco replied snidely.

"Not only did you kiss three different girls, you were hilarious on that video!" Lizzie chuckled, stopping when she saw Marco shooting daggers at her.

"My drink got spiked, it's hardly funny." He snapped, not meaning to vent his frustrations out on the bubbly brunette, but she was really pushing his buttons.

"Yeah, excuses, you were a drunken mess."

"I know how I act when I'm drunk Lizzie. I don't act like that. It's happened before, but thank fuck I had friends there who didn't let me make an arse out of myself."

Marco knew it wasn't the last he was hearing about it, with everyone seemingly making comments about it, giggling and laughing, but the more they brought it up, the more anxious Marco became about Cory, and realised he got lucky.

Going to his first lesson with Miss Mulgrew, Marco just wandered in the classroom, biting his tongue at all the sniggers by the people sitting around him.

"First, I'll be collecting your SA's from last week, and the re-done ones from those of you who didn't pass."

Marco quickly popped his two typed up SA's on the desk. As they were collected in, he could hear people mumbling about him, making him extremely uncomfortable.

'_I just want to go home'_

After not taking in half of Miss Mulgrew's lesson, he was relieved when she said she wasn't setting any homework this week. Marco had no focus, which really wasn't improving his mood, as he was overthinking everything.

He made his way to science where he just sat, staring off into space; preoccupied, thinking about his best friend.

"Marco, you've been surprisingly quiet this lesson, what's the answer to number 4."

Marco continued staring off into space. Leo turned to see the boy off in Wonderland, and gave him a nudge, waking him up.

"What?"

"Well nice to see you're paying attention. What's the answer to number 4?" She asked.

He just stared wide eyed, he didn't realise how much he'd been day dreaming, but it was really affecting his work today.

"He's too drugged up miss. He probably can't tell you his name." Someone spoke up, making the class snigger.

"Well if you're too busy thinking you're a cast member of Geordie Shore, I don't even get why you're here." Mrs Lowsley remarked, and Marco had to really stop himself just walking out.

Marco just sighed; feeling an ever growing sickening feeling in his stomach the longer his phone remained silent. He was beyond worried and could almost feel himself physically shaking more and more the more he thought about Cory.

When the class was finally dismissed, he breathed a sigh of relief, since art wasn't as stressful and something he actually enjoyed, so he could hopefully just focus and stop being so upset.

Just when he'd walked out the classroom he heard a familiar voice.

"You alright, you don't look too good." He saw Leo standing next to him, looking concerned.

"I'm fine." Marco replied happily, obviously faking a smile.

Though Leo didn't believe him, he just smiled and went on his way to his lesson.

Marco arrived at art, to receive the same looks he'd been getting all day.

"I didn't know you did drugs, Marco." One of the girls said as he sat down.

"My drink was spiked. I had no choice." He replied in a monotone voice, wishing people would drop the subject.

"Wow, can't that kill people?" Someone else asked, making Marco just stop everything. He'd done everything he could to stay positive, but he was constantly reminded about what happened, and that Cory could die at any second and he could do nothing about it.

He had to remind himself to breathe, and breathe normally. He didn't need any drama. Although he posted a lot about his life online, Marco was very private with his personal issues, and Cory was usually the only one he'd tell stuff too, so he could lose his closest ally, and it was terrifying him.

His plan of investing all his thought into his artwork was failing. He had no inspiration, no muse, nothing to make him want to pick up his pencil. He just stared at the blank piece of paper in front of him uselessly.

His silence was unnerving for everyone around him. Most assumed he was just a bit embarrassed by the party, but Lizzie could see her friend was genuinely upset.

"Hey Marco, are you sure you're okay? Is it the whole thing about Friday because it really isn't that bad?"

"I'm fine. I'm really not bothered about Friday." He replied, checking his phone yet again. Lizzie didn't believe a word he said.

"You can tell me y'know."

"I'm honestly fine Lizzie, there's no need for you to worry. I just feel a bit sick." Marco lied. He did feel sick, though it was nerves and anxiousness and generally keeping in two days' worth of emotions, and was ready to just crack.

The next lesson was spent the same way, with Marco in another planet, and people being kind of worried. So when the bell went for lunch, Lizzie was determined to make him feel better.

"We can go for pizza and chips if you want."

"I'm really not hungry Lizzie, but thanks for the offer; I know you're only trying to help."

Just then, his phone buzzed. He hurriedly pulled it out his pocket, just to see it was another notification from that stupid video. Marco was taking deep breaths to try and calm his annoyance.

"If you want ask to get it taken down." Tiffany replied, seeing Marco's reaction to his message.

"No, I was just excepting a call that's all. Getting my hopes up." Marco sighed, putting his phone away. He just sat at the canteen while the girls ate and chatted.

Marco's next lesson was History. He sat in his usual seat next to Leo, and was looking at the board, but none of it entered his mind, which was too full of thoughts swirling around his head.

Snapping him out of his thoughts was the sound of his phone buzzing in his pocket. Miss McFall and the rest of the class just looked at him.

"Turn the phone off please."

"Miss can I please answer it, I've been waiting for a phone call for days now. It's really important." Marco pleaded, seeing the caller ID.

Seeing the boy's desperation Miss McFall nodded, and Marco could leave the classroom quick enough to pick the phone up.

"Hello." He answered, trying to be quiet, knowing the class could hear him if he was too loud.

"Hi Marco." Mrs Smith replied. The way her voice cracked, and the tone of her voice sent Marco's head spiralling. "I'm really sorry to tell you this, but Cory didn't make it." The woman sobbed down the phone

'_Nonononononono! This can't be happening'_

"I'm so sorry Pauline; I can't imagine how you're feeling." Marco replied, voice trembling as he held back every urge to cry.

"We're arranging a funeral for Friday. We'd love for you to speak, you knew him better than any of his other friends."

"I'd be honoured. I'll do it."

"Thanks Marco, I now it won't be easy for you either, make sure you look after yourself, alright?"

"Don't worry, I will do Pauline."

"See you later." The line then went dead. Marco wiped a few tears away from his eyes then ran his hand through his hair. All he wanted to do was huddle at home and cry and not care if he looked stupid. However, he was at school, where he had to at least put a brave face on until he got home and could book his train to London.

His breath was shaky, as was his body. The lump in his throat was making it impossible to speak. His usually pale skin had gone deathly pale. He entered the classroom looking at the floor and walking straight to his seat, receiving a few strange looks from the class.

Leo saw the change in his friends being. "You've gone really pale, are you sure you're alright?" He knew it was a stupid question, he obviously wasn't, but Leo didn't really know what else to do.

Marco sighed, and nodded, not daring to speak, but he managed to whisper. "Yeah, I'm okay." He was sick of lying, he wasn't okay. He was far from fine. He just didn't want anyone to think he wasn't coping with everything.

**AN: Sorry this one was so sad D: It's not all sad, I promise!**

**Thanks to all the readers and anyone who reviews favourites or follows. I love you all so much! The reviews are amazing, honestly, you guys flatter me so much! **

**-w-**

**See you next chapter :D**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own Waterloo Road or any of the characters in the story**

**Chapter 8**

Leaving History, Marco made his way to the library for last lesson where he had what was the closest he got to a free lesson, which was supervised by Mr Lowsley while everyone got on and did work set by teachers.

Marco took a seat on his own and pulled out his notebook and was just going to read through his History notes, or at least something similar, but his mind was just screaming at him to just drop everything and just go home. He remained silent, as he knew if he even tried to speak he'd end up a bawling mess. He just started scrawling mindlessly onto a blank page.

However, he found himself unable to move when the final bell went, he knew he just wanted to be able to walk home without any hassle, but he wanted to be at home so badly.

He looked down at his notes, and saw he'd started writing what he was going to say at Cory's funeral. Those words hit him like a ton of bricks, and he choked back his tears as he re-read what he'd written. Of course, most of it was utter crap he wouldn't end up saying, but damn it was all hitting him. His best friend was gone, and he didn't get to say goodbye.

Noticing all the imperfections in what he'd written, Marco pulled the page out and slammed his notebook shut. He sighed and ran his hands through his hair. He checked the time, and it seemed he'd left it long enough so he could walk home and be miserable without anyone around to question it.

Just as he walked out the library, he almost bumped into a familiar face.

"Oh, hi Leo." He said, with the same fake smile as before plastered on his drained face. Leo just had to look at Marco and he could tell the usually happy, slightly sarcastic red head was really caught up on something. He noticed shakiness in his voice. Leo believed it had something to do with the phone call in History, but he didn't really want to pressure him into speaking if he didn't want to. Even if it was obvious everything he'd said that day was complete bullshit.

"You feeling any better?" He asked, even though he already knew the answer Marco was going to give.

Marco just looked down to the floor, unable to bring a smile upon his face. "Yeah, I told you I'm fine." Marco felt the lump getting bigger in his throat. He knew he couldn't speak another word without completely breaking down. The look on Leo's face said it all: he didn't believe a word Marco was saying, and he knew he couldn't badly act his way out of it.

"I'm pretty sure people's hands don't shake when they're fine." Leo retorted, not meaning to say it out loud, he was slightly taken back by himself, it sounded a lot more harsh spoken rather than in his head.

"Shut up." Marco snapped defensively, wiping away a few stray tears with his hoodie sleeve, but they won't stop, as much as he tried.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you upset." Leo replied, shocked at Marco's snappy reaction.

Marco just shook his head, not wanting to speak and cry more than he already was. He just looked up and gave a half-hearted smile towards Leo as he made his way out the school doors. He sniffled, wiping his eyes on his hoodie, but he just seemed to keep crying.

"You walk that way, right?" Marco turned round and saw Leo smiling sympathetically at him.

He just nodded in response, still fighting the lump in his throat. The two walked out the gates, Marco still super tense.

"Why don't we go to the chippy and we can have some pizza?" Leo asked. "See it as a cheer up present."

Marco just looked at him; he was a bit confused of what Leo was on about.

"Friends do that for each other, right?" This made Marco know exactly what he was referencing, making him crack a real smile for the first time that day. He just nodded in response and walked to the sea front, where they each got pizza and chips, and they sat on a beach by the sea front. Marco just picked at his chips, he couldn't really think about being hungry, but he felt bad Leo had been nice and he was being awful, but he felt like he should be sad, he was grieving, so he should grieve, and be happy afterwards. Being hit by that many emotions at one time wasn't doing Marco any good.

"I-I'm sorry." He managed to force the words out his mouth without crying. "Things would've been so much easier for you if I hadn't have been such a pain, I bet you have much better things to be doing right now than sitting here with me." He didn't really know what he was saying anymore, but he just covered his face with his hands, as all the sadness he'd had buried made him just crumble.

Leo didn't know what to say. He wasn't usually the comforting type, and he had no reason why Marco was so upset. He doubted it was something so trivial like what he'd just said.

"Like what, maths homework?" Leo responded, making Marco look up. "Friends look out for each other. This has something to do with the phone call, doesn't it?"

Marco nodded. "My best friend died. OD'ed on something when his drink got spiked. How come I do, but he doesn't. We'd been best friend since we were four. He's like my brother" He continued to bury his head in his hands, though it felt like a weight lifted off his shoulders.

"Wow, I'm so sorry." That was all Leo could say. He couldn't imagine losing someone so close to him from his life.

"Ughh, I'm sorry for breaking down and crying like that. I must look really stupid."

"I'd be more scared if you weren't upset." Leo replied, making Marco chuckle slightly.

"Well, that's a plus; at least I'm not a psychopath." He responded in his usual sarcastic tone, picking more at his food. "Tell anyone I was crying and I'll hunt you down."

"Don't worry, your secret's safe with me."

"Thanks Leo, not many people put up with my ramblings. You're a real mate."

"You too, you shouldn't be too hard on yourself. I like your ramblings, they make you human."

'_Aw it's really cute when Leo smiles like that.' _Marco then immediately back tracked his thoughts. _'Did I just call Leo cute in my head? No, no it was probably just a one off.'_

But it wasn't. As the boys sat and talked, similar thoughts ran through Marco's head, irritating himself in the process. The pair exchanged numbers, and Marco promised Leo a Super Smash Bros match, claiming he was the champion. Leo agreed, only if they also had a Mario kart battle, stating he wasn't that bad at it.

Marco was still upset about Cory; however, Leo seemed to have taken his mind away from it for a little while, allowing his to be happy and smile, which he really needed after such a terrible day.

"I really don't want to go into school tomorrow." Marco sighed, reality hitting him.

"You don't have to. People have stayed off for less." Leo suggested. "I'm sure they'd understand if you told them."

"I'll see how I feel. I don't want another day like today."

"I doubt you'll have many days worse than today."

"Well your cheer up pizza's made today slightly less awful."

"Well I kind of stole the idea." Leo joked, making Marco smile. His attention was then turned to his phone ringing. He just sighed and rolled his eyes, and answered the phone.

"Hi Dad." He answered sounding slightly annoyed. "Yeah, yeah. I'm fine; I'm fine I've just got some pizza so you and Justin eat without me. I'll be home soon. Okay, bye."

Marco just sniggered, seeing Leo roll his eyes as he put the phone down.

"I'm sure my Dad thinks I'm not capable walking from school on my own."

"It's good intentions, I guess. I can't sympathise with you there." He then pulled out his own phone to check the time. "We _have_ been sitting here for like, an hour and a half maybe."

"Have we?" Leo asked quite shocked. "I lost track of the time."

"Me too, thanks to you."

"I should probably get going." Leo sighed, staring at his phone.

"Yeah, me too." Marco lied, but he was hardly going to sit out on his own.

"Make sure you're okay."

"I will be eventually." Marco sighed. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow, maybe."

"Yeah." Leo smiled as the two went to go their separate ways. "Um… Marco?" Leo asked, making the red head turn around. "Do you maybe want to walk home together more often?"

Marco felt his heart race and a grin creep onto his face, for reasons unknown to him. This was getting weird.

"Yeah, I'd love to."

**AN: 2 chapters in one day?! I'm on a roll, and these two fit hand in hand, so putting them up closer makes sense :)**

**So yeah kind of getting there, I hope this isn't going too slow, I just don't really want to rush into it and make it too weird and unnatural after everything with Marco etc. **

**Hopefully it will be worth the wait :)**

**Love all reviews reads, follows and favourites, and I'll see you next chapter xxx**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I do not own Waterloo Road or any of the characters in the story**

**Chapter 9**

Marco spent the rest of his night crying and attempting to conjure up a speech, and crumpling any fails and using the bin for target practise and as the night drew on, his shots got more and more off target.

Marco woke up to his phone buzzing. He immediately answered the call, not bothering to check who it was.

"Hello." He murmured sleepily.

"Marco! Where are you? Everyone's a bit worried since you were so off yesterday." He instantly recognised the perky voice of his bubbly friend.

"Yeah." He sighed, running his spare hand through his hair. "I don't know if I'm coming in. I've got a lot on my plate at the minute. I just need a day or two to sort my head out."

"Do you need me to tell the office anything? The teachers told us to tell them if we hear anything from you."

Marco was torn on whether he should tell Lizzie about Cory. On one hand, the girl could talk someone's ear off, so he didn't know if he could trust her, but on the other hand, she was a close friend, and she was genuinely concerned about him.

"Yeah, Lizzie, could you do me a huge favour and tell them something for me, but, you have to promise to not spread it round the whole school, it's serious."

"Yeah, what's up?" Lizzie's tone of voice had turned rather serious, she had never seen Marco as down as he was yesterday.

"My best friend died yesterday. His drink got spiked and he OD'ed." Marco had to stop and take a breath to stop himself getting too upset. "I need some time to get my head back in check. The funeral's on Friday too, so I kind of need to take Thursday off to travel too."

Lizzie just remained silent. She felt awful, and couldn't imagine losing her best friend, especially if they were virtually at opposite ends of the country. "I'll tell them. Make sure you're okay though Marco. I'm always a phone call away if you need me."

"Thanks Lizzie."

"Well I've got to get to lessons, but I'll see you in school, make sure you take your time okay. I don't want to see you back unless you're ready."

"Okay mother." Marco replied sarcastically. "I'll see you later."

Lizzie put her phone in her pocket as she walked to class. Sitting next to Tiffany, she realised how lucky she was that her best friend was still around, even if she didn't see her as much because she and Justin spent a lot of time together.

"I managed to talk to Marco." She mumbled, not wanting too many people to hear.

"Yeah?" Tiffany replied, not knowing where Lizzie was going with the conversation.

"Is Mr Lowsley his registration teacher?"

"I think so, why?" Tiffany asked, making Lizzie remember Marco specifically telling her not to spread this all around the school.

"No reason." She shrugged.

When it reached break, Lizzie quickly made her way to Mr Lowsley's classroom. She nervously knocked on the door, still feeling like she shouldn't be talking about Marco like this to anyone, even a teacher.

"Come in." The English teacher called, collecting in the last few books. Lizzie did as instructed, and was met with the usual happy smile from the teacher.

Lizzie was having doubts whether this was a good idea.

"I have my essay for you, sir." She replied nervously, pulling the paper out her bag.

"It's not due in 'til tomorrow, but it's nice to see you being organised Lizzie." Lizzie just nodded and smiled sheepishly. "Is there anything else?"

"Yeah. I have this friend, and they're having a really tough time with stuff and they've stayed off school today and they might stay off tomorrow because they don't feel like they can come into school. My friend was wondering if they'd get into trouble if they did this."

It took Mr Lowsley a few moments to process Lizzie's statement. "It depends; do you know why your friend is having a tough time?"

"Yeah, their best friend died yesterday, and they live a long distance apart, so they'd have to travel down south for their friend's funeral, but they didn't want to go into school today since they probably couldn't concentrate anyway."

Simon clicked then who Lizzie was talking about. "Lizzie, is that why Marco hasn't come in today?"

Lizzie sighed, nodding her head. She thought she'd made it less clear.

"He said he needs a day or two to sort his head out. He won't get in trouble, will he?"

"No, I'll make sure he doesn't. Thanks for letting me know Lizzie."

Lizzie just nodded, leaving the classroom, feeling like she'd done the right thing. Knowing now she didn't have to tell anyone else, Lizzie could put her mind at ease, and enjoy the rest of her day.

It was Thursday morning and Marco had decided to go into school for catch up, since he was leaving at lunch time to catch his train.

"What are you doing back?" Lizzie asked in a hushed tone. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"It's only a morning. My train leaves at 13:05, so I should be alright."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm just going to get on with it, thinking just makes it harder."

At the end of registration, Mr Lowsley asked Marco to stay behind. He hated science, so missing it wasn't a big deal for him.

"Marco, Lizzie told me about what happened. I'm sorry."

"No need to be sir. He'd hate for me to mope around, it's better if I have stuff to take my mind off it."

"If you're sure. You know my door's always open if you need a chat."

"Thanks sir, but I should be okay." Marco replied, with his usual grin on his face. He was faking it all, and was regretting even setting foot back into the school, but he reminded himself he was only there for half a day.

He hurried along the empty corridors and made his way to science and was greeted by the miserable face of Mrs Lowsley.

"Nice of you to finally join us Marco. What's your excuse this time?"

"Mr Lowsley wanted to speak to me about something."

"Causing trouble with him too, I bet."

Marco just rolled his eyes and slumped in his seat. The longer he stayed in school, the worse his mood was getting, but he couldn't concentrate if he tried. In the end, he just gave up and began doodling in his book.

"Marco are you paying attention?" The snarky teacher asked, snapping Marco out of his daze.

"Yeah, totally miss."

"Then what did I just say?"

"'Marco are you paying attention' is what you just said." Marco retorted in a sarcastic tone, making his teacher furious.

"You think you're so clever." Sue retorted, walking over to the boy and picking his book up. "I don't know why Vaughn wastes his time on drugged up wannabes like you."

"Oh fuck off; I won't be spoke to like that by the likes of you." Marco snapped; he'd really lost his temper. "You have no idea what hell is going on, you useless cow."

"Cooler now!" Mrs Lowsley shouted, and Marco walked towards the door "And forget about your lunchtime, you can do a detention then too."

Marco had never turned round quicker in his life. "You can't do that. You saw the register; I'm going home at lunch time to catch a train."

"You aren't getting special treatment because your parents are loaded."

"Is a funeral a good enough excuse for you?" Marco snarled. "How about your best friend overdosing because some dickhead spiked his drink? Or are none of those reasons good enough for time off?"

Marco immediately calmed down, realising what he'd just said as he felt the class' eyes bore into him, as he turned and walked down the corridor. Lizzie immediately jumped out of her seat, leaving the class in state of shock, and Sue feeling terrible.

"Marco! Marco!" Lizzie shouted, she ran and checked the bike shelter outside and saw him in the corner. "Do you think to came back too soon?" She asked, in a sympathetic tone. The boy just nodded, wiping his eyes with his hoodie sleeve.

"I'm such an idiot. Why do I lose my temper?"

"You're a boy; you're not as rational as us females." Lizzie replied trying to lighten the mood.

"Wow, no need to be sexist." He replied sarcastically, making Lizzie snigger.

"Get yourself home. Sort your head out, go to London tonight and give your friend the send-off he deserves, and if you don't feel up to it on Monday, don't come in. You're only human; you can't expect yourself not to be sad about something so big happening."

"Ughh, I hate it when you're right." Marco mumbled, boosting Lizzie's ego.

"I know, but I love it." The girl shrugged. "Now give me a hug and get your arse out of here." Marco stood up as Lizzie hugged him, to the point he was wondering if it was a hug, or if she was trying to crush his spine.

"You know you're going to get in huge trouble about this."

"Don't worry about me." Lizzie rolled her eyes. "Just go."

It was Friday night, and school had barely crossed Marco's mind since he'd started travelling. His train ride was long, and he was emotionally exhausted from the day he'd spent mostly in tears, and talking with old friends. His speech went down well, with everyone liking his choice to focus on Cory's life, rather than how much he'd be missed.

He said a fond farewell to his friends as he boarded his train back to Scotland, knowing he'd be incredibly home sick in a few days.

The train journey was long, and his carriage was nearly empty, apart from a business man reading his kindle with his 80's hits being slightly too loud, so Marco could hear it through the noise leaking out of his headphones.

Marco reached Newcastle Central Station, and listened to the announcement, though he was incredibly bored and drained, but he was overly conscious of missing his station by falling asleep which prevented him from falling asleep. He pulled out his phone, which was starting to run low on battery after his long few days with not a lot of time to charge it, but he had enough to make a phone call.

"Hey Marco, what's up?" A familiar voice answered.

"Hey Leo, sorry if I woke you up."

"No, you're fine. I was awake." Leo lied, but he knew Marco would've had a pretty crappy day, so he didn't really want to make him feel any worse.

"You know how you suggested we do a game day sometime."

"Yeah."

"Fancy doing it tomorrow. I could do with a cheer up and who else would I want to play games with? If you aren't already busy though."

"Yeah I'd love to."

"Cool, I'll meet you where you normally turn off when we're walking home from school at about 1:30."

"That's fine by me, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah I'll see then." Marco replied, smiling as the phone went dead, but a thought nagged at his mind.

'_Was it company in general you wanted or Leo's company specifically?'_

**AN: Sorry this is kind of filler, I just got all the stuff with Marco in London out of the way (and I just left out a proper speech because I really couldn't write a decent one, as much as I tired, it was all pretty bland and uninteresting, especially as we don't really know too much about his BFF.) and I'm on a roll, so I'm currently a few chapters ahead because I have so many ideas! (but no spoilers here today ;D) and there will be more of the boys together since they're both back in Scotland, next chapter should be up very soon since it's done, but you guys had 2 chapters yesterday :)**

**Thanks for every read, review, follow and favourite. It means the world to know people like my writing, and I honestly wouldn't carry this story on if it weren't for every one of you encouraging me.**

**See you all next chapter xx**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I do not own Waterloo Road or any of the characters in the story.**

**Also in this chapter a lot of video games are mentioned, I own none of those either; those belong to their respective owners.**

**Chapter 10**

Leo stood where he and Marco had planned to meet the day before, feeling kind of awkward just standing around on his own. He felt like he was constantly checking his phone just so he didn't look quite so out of place.

He already had a hectic morning, with his Dad and brother being pleasantly surprised that he was having a social life, even if it was very small, and just playing video games with a friend.

Leo did enjoy the company, especially since Marco was quite a complex character for him to get his head round. He could easily be the most popular boy in the entire school by his looks alone, but yet he chose to spend his time with the geek with no friends. There was definitely more to him than what met the eye and it intrigued Leo.

"Sorry I'm late! I was getting a few supplies." Marco called, holding a bag which seemed to be full of junk food and energy drinks.

"Wow, that's a lot of Red Bull."

"I live on the stuff." Marco admitted sheepishly. "There's just not enough hours in the day sometimes."

The pair continued walking to Marco's house whilst chatting about the games they were intending to play. Upon reaching his house, Marco opened the door and put the bag on the breakfast bar. Leo stood just staring. He knew Marco's parents were well off, but the house was amazing.

"Don't just stare, come in. Welcome to my home" Marco greeted jokingly, almost as if he expected Leo's reaction. Leo reminded himself that Marco's intuition was better than first thought.

"Wow, your house is amazing." Leo complimented as he stepped warily inside, not wanting to break anything, the house barely looked lived in. _'Wow Leo, very articulate.' _ He mentally scolded himself.

"Thanks. It's not the colour I would've gone for, but I think the neutral colours look really nice. You can tell my mum's an interior designer. Want one?" Marco asked, holding out a can of energy drink.

"Yeah, thanks." Leo replied taking the drink from his friend. "So do your parents work Saturday's?"

"Probably, they're in London, so I have no clue, but it was my only criteria for moving up here. I get a nice place to stay, and they delivered."

"Wait, you live on your own?"

"I'm 16, it's allowed, relax." Marco replied. "It's the best thing! I and my family have never gotten along better now that we're not around each other 24/7. Enough about that though, how about we get the first game on."

As the games began, Marco realised what he'd gotten himself in for. Leo was so much better than him and it was slightly bruising his ego.

"No way! You must have cheated." Marco huffed, losing his 5th Smash Bros fight in a row.

"No need to be a sore loser." Leo retorted.

"I'm not!" Marco replied defending his pride. "You might be good at Smash bros, but I'll beat you in Mario Kart." He challenged.

And so, round two began. Marco wasn't quite as bad at Mario Kart as he obviously was in Smash Bros. The pair were always overtaking one another with their number of wins, as they jokingly taunted each other whilst eating masses of junk food and chugging energy drinks between rounds. By the time they'd played for an hour or two, they were tied.

"Right, this is the final round. Whoever wins this is Mario kart champion." Marco declared, flicking through the racetrack options, looking specifically for the map he had in mind.

"Shouldn't we randomise it? Make t fair at least."

"No way, we're doing this one."

Leo looked and saw Rainbow Road as their final challenge. The infamous Mario kart track was renowned for being horrendously difficult, and very easy for sabotage.

As the race started, Leo knew Marco's plan to push his character off the road and into the abyss, as Marco sniggered as he shunted his character's car into Leo's.

"Who's cheating now?" Leo questioned, as Marco had a devilish smirk across his face.

"It's just some friendly competition. I don't know what you're talking about." Marco replied innocently.

Leo used some tactics of his own, breaking, so Marco's shunt sent him across the road and off the track.

"No way, you did that on purpose."

"What, and ramming into me was an accident?"

"I didn't make you die though."

Leo just laughed, as Marco swore under his breath, trying to catch him up, as Leo was way ahead.

After many other incidents of falling off the road, either caused by one another, or by just not driving very carefully, Marco was regretting his decision, not admitting defeat, though he knew fine well he'd lost.

"If I knew you were going to beat me at everything I would've just suggested pizza and a movie." Marco sighed in defeat.

"Well I've had plenty practise. My social life is non-existent." Leo shrugged.

"Hey, you're socialising now."

"But it doesn't really count." Leo immediately regretted saying what he did. He didn't want to say the reason it didn't count to Marco, because he might find it weird, and make things awkward. Leo thought Marco's company was amazing, but that was his issue, it felt oddly natural to be in his company.

"How come? We're talking, enjoying ourselves. Even if it's in a house playing video games."

Leo just nodded. "Yeah I guess my idea of socialising is a bit warped."

"You shouldn't think so hard on yourself Leo. Honestly, you're not _that_ bad." Marco joked.

"Wow, that's the best compliment I've ever heard, thanks Marco." Leo replied in a sarcastic tone.

"Is my friend sarcasm starting to kill your sense of humour?"

"No, your compliment was _that _amazing; I couldn't react any other way."

The two continued talking and making each other laugh with their comments. Though neither would admit it, they were both enjoying each other's company a lot, almost to the point neither really wanted to leave.

"Oh, I forgot I had this." Marco said excitedly, brushing the dust off an old game. "Fancy doing some co-op maps on Portal 2, I've completed the main game, but I've never done the co-ops."

"Me neither, we could give it a go."

So the two started their first map, which was apparently the easiest one.

"It's been years since I even played portal, I might be a bit rusty." Marco admitted, with his gaze firmly focused on the screen.

"It's been a while for me too."

"Well this is going to go well." Marco mumbled under his breath.

Sure enough, it didn't take too long for Marco to start getting annoyed.

"No, your portal goes there." He sighed.

"Why would it go there? Then my portal here will go and we need it."

"It shouldn't be that difficult."

The two began trying different strategies, and with many failed attempts, the finally got onto a lead that would eventually lead them to their goal.

"That wasn't as easy as I thought it would be."

"Our teamwork isn't the best either." Leo criticised.

"Yeah, I guess we're quite stubborn when it comes to Portal. Fancy trying another one?"

"Sure, we can do one more."

One more ended up being three and a half. Neither of the boys noticed how quickly time was going by. Though, the amount of caffeine was starting to catch up, as both Marco and Leo were feeling intense caffeine crash, which was making their portal missions take longer and longer to complete as both got more tired, but both of them were far too determined to give up until the mission was complete, or so they said, as fatigue easily overtook the both of them.

* * *

><p>Leo's eyes opened groggily as he took in the vaguely familiar room, however, it was darker. Their video game was still there unmoved in its half-finished state and he noticed his head was resting on Marco's shoulder. Leo moved his head, trying his best not to wake Marco up, feeling his cheeks heat up. He wasn't a religious person, but he prayed to any God he woke up before Marco did.<p>

His train of thought was taken away by his phone on the arm of the sofa start buzzing. He didn't quite crab it in time, missing the call, but he saw it was about half one in the morning and he had multiple missed calls and texts from his dad and his brother.

'_I'm really not looking forward to going home.'_

He then saw Marco rubbing his eyes, sitting up. Looking confused that he'd slept so long.

'_He is kind of cute when he's sleepy.' _Leo thought, instantly burying that thought deep in his head hoping it would never resurface.

"What time is it?" He said groggily, obviously still half-asleep.

"About half-one."

"Fuck, we really crashed out." Marco chuckled lightly.

"My Dad is going to kill me." Leo sighed, keeping a close eye on his phone.

"Just say it's my fault. I don't mind taking the blame." Marco shrugged.

"I can't do that."

"Course you can. Just say I kept asking for one more game, and it ended up being half one."

"I really can't."

"Your Dad can hardly have a go at you when your brother is hardly the golden child. You stayed out late big whoop; you haven't killed anyone that I know of."

Leo was about to answer when his phone rang again.

"Hello Dad." Leo answered, cringing at his phone, obviously getting an earful from his Dad.

"I'm sorry. I know. We crashed on the sofa. My phone's been on silent, I only just woke up now."

"Yeah, of course. I didn't do it on purpose." Leo was obviously getting a little bit annoyed with his Dad. "I know, I didn't mean to scare you. No, no. It was stupid I know but… yeah, okay. I'll be home soon. Yeah, see you."

Leo's face said it all when he put the phone down.

"Do you want me to walk you along? It's the least I could do for getting you in this mess in the first place, plus its dark out."

"You don't have to, I'll be fine."

"That wasn't a question, I'll walk with you."

Marco felt sad Leo was leaving. The company was nice, and Leo was one of the nicest people he'd ever met.

The two walked along the dimly lit streets, enjoying the comfortable silence between them.

"We should do this again." Marco said breaking the silence. "Without getting you in trouble next time."

"Yeah, it was great fun today, thanks for having me around."

"Anytime, you're great company."

It seemed the two got to their crossroads too quickly for their liking, as Leo grew more nervous as he got closer to home, knowing the lecture he got on the phone would be repeated almost word for word as soon as he entered the door.

"Well I'm off to the slaughter house, wish me luck."

"You'll be fine." Marco replied, putting a supportive hand on Leo's shoulder. Marco had never noticed before, but Leo's eyes were really blue, really contrasting his dark hair. He didn't realise he was staring until Leo broke the eye contact. Marco cleared his throat, trying to diffuse the awkwardness surrounding them.

"Well, I'll see you Monday."

"Yeah, see you then."

Both Marco and Leo turned around and walked away, with their thoughts running at a million miles per hour. They both had a lot to think about.

* * *

><p>Leo entered the house, and could immediately hear his Dad making his way to the door. He really wasn't looking forward to this.<p>

"Nice to see you home."

"I'm being honest Dad, we just fell asleep…" Leo began, hoping his Dad knew he was telling the truth.

"…I know. It's really great seeing you make friends Leo; we were starting to get worried. However, nearly giving us heart failure when you don't come home isn't how I want this to end up."

"I honestly didn't mean to Dad."

"I know you didn't, just don't do that again, okay?"

"Yeah." Leo breathed a sigh of relief that he was spared another lecture.

"Well, best get off to bed, I'll tell your brother you're home."

"Goodnight," Leo replied, slumping up the stairs to his bedroom. He quickly checked his phone, and a smile crept upon his face as he read the unopened text.

'_Hope you're okay, sorry I got you into trouble. I just wanted to say thanks; you really cheered me up today. You really made my day.'_

Leo just read through the message a couple times, with a smile on his face. He was happy he'd cheered Marco up, and even more so that he got to spend the day with him just chilling out. Leo knew he'd be happy spending a lot more time with Marco, just lazing around. It was messing with his head with how much he'd grown to like the red head. He had no clue how to explain how he felt about him, he wasn't sure he was even a friend.

Friends usually didn't usually get butterflies in their stomach after reading a simple text.

Friends didn't usually find their friends cute.

Leo had to bring himself to the conclusion: He like Marco as more than a friend.

And he had no idea how to deal with it.

**AN: Omg, so this was long enough then I added more then realised this is like a novel, oops.**

**I'm trying my best to cater to your suggestions, but I am usually a few chapters ahead from when I publish the chapter, but I edited this one as best I could, and it's really long and yeah, apologies, I couldn't find a decent place to stop. (This is 7 pages on a Word Document!)**

**Also, apologies for the unrealistic writing about Mari Kart, because idek how anyone can still be speaking after playing rainbow road, like omg that thing ruins friendships quicker than monopoly.**

**Anyways, thanks to everyone who reviewed/read/followed/favourite this, and I'll see you all next chapter xxx**

**-A-**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I do not own Waterloo Road or any of the characters in the story**

**Chapter 11**

Marco clutched the wrapping on his forearm, as he lay in bed staring at his new tattoo, reflecting back on how it came to be.

* * *

><p>It started the day after his and Leo's games night. He was on the phone with Leo, discussing how much he missed his friend, and he really wanted something to remember him by, and instantly his mind stopped on a tattoo. It was a healthy pain release, and a great way to remember his friend, in Marco's opinion.<p>

"No way. One it's illegal, two you'll have to hide it at school. It's not worth it." Leo attempted to convince Marco out of it. He knew the boy was prone to rash decisions he ended up regretting later, and as much Leo knew his efforts would probably be in vain, it never hurt to try.

"You just said you thought tattoos were cool. I'm sketching up a few designs now." Marco replied, kind of wanting Leo to jump on the bandwagon and be a bit more supportive, rather than being so sensible.

Leo couldn't deny, he found tattoos pretty cool, and with Marco's already punk-like image, it would suit him perfectly, making rather difficult for him to continue his protest, but he tried to keep it sensible, since he knew Marco and sensible weren't exactly compatible.

"I do, but just because I say there cool doesn't mean you run to the nearest tattoo shop and get one." Leo was flattered Marco was kind of taking his opinion into consideration, even if it was selectively.

"Come on. It's not like it's anything stupid. I knew Cory since we were four, it's worth it."

"How are you going to get one though, don't you have to be 18?"

"That is one of the stupidest things you've asked me." Marco replied stoically. "How do you think I got into nightclubs? There's such a thing as a fake ID."

"You're not changing your mind, are you?" Leo sighed in defeat. _'Well at least I tried.'_

"Nope." Marco replied popping the 'p'. "You should come with me."

"I can't get a tattoo!" Leo exclaimed "I don't know what I'd want and I don't have fake ID."

"I didn't say for you to get a tattoo, I wanted you to come with me."

"I'll still have to be 18 though, right?"

"I don't think so, if you're not getting inked, you don't need to be 18."

"Fine, I'll tag along."

"Promise?"

"Yeah, I promise."

So, Marco spent the next day in his art lesson sketching up ideas for a tattoo, unknowingly to everyone else. People were treading too carefully around him for his liking; it was just making things more uncomfortable than what they really were. He would pass Leo designs discreetly in class for his opinion. Leo never realised how good of an artist Marco was, but he was really talented. He didn't understand how he was on the athletics team, when it was obvious his true passion was art, seeing how picky he was being over every design. Leo found it difficult to criticise, feeling he had no room to, since he felt his artistic talent didn't stretch far beyond stick men and working on Photoshop.

When the day of the appointment rolled around, Marco practically dragged Leo to the tattoo parlour.

"You don't have to walk so fast you know."

"I'm just super excited; it's the beginning of a tattoo era." He said walking into the shop. He'd already had a design sorted with the artist and was all ready to get it done, when he was hit with a wave of nervousness, which was written all over his face when the stencil was placed on his left forearm, starting from just below the palm of his hand to mid-way up his arm.

"You can't back out now, you'll be fine." Leo encouraged, staring at the stencil on his arm, after looking at basically all of Marco's designs, he really liked how they'd managed to combine some into the final design.

"He's allowed to stay in, isn't he?" Marco asked the artist, as Leo felt kind of awkward standing there.

"Yeah he can stay." The artist replied. "It's cute your boyfriend came to hold your hand."

At that comment, both boys' eyes widened, and Marco chuckled nervously, trying to ignore the fact his cheeks were burning up. "Hey, you can stay, and we're just friends." He replied defensively. _'Well that's awkward.'_

"If you say so." The artist mumbled under his breath.

The needle was exceptionally painful when it went over his vein, making Marco gritted his teeth, but all he was thinking was the comment from the artist.

Did he want to hold Leo's hand? Yes.

Was it because he was in pain? He wasn't quite sure.

Leo wasn't exactly opposed to the idea of holding Marco's hand either.

A few pain staking hours later, where Marco was too focused on staying completely still to say a thing, it was finally finished. The final piece was a guitar of the same brand as Cory's, with his friend's signature on the guitar, like he was a famous musician, and his birth date and death date underneath the guitar. He knew how big music was in Cory's life, and that's how he wanted to remember his friend, as that's how he wanted to be known. Marco couldn't help but want to stare at it all the time walking home, as much as it hurt.

"It's phenomenal. I'm so glad I went for black and white." Marco said, in awe at the ink on his arm.

"It looks so amazing!" Leo replied, smiling at his redheaded friend. "As much as I hate to admit it, I'm glad you got it. Tattoos are so much nicer when they mean something."

"I can't wait to add to it now; I'm definitely starting the sleeve."

Leo had to admit to himself, he really wouldn't mind Marco having a tattoo sleeve or two.

"You've not become addicted have you?"

"No, they're cool, but I'll save my next one for when I have a ground breaking idea for it. I've already got this in my ear to stop me getting a job; I need to slow down before the only job I can get is serving fries" Marco replied, pointing to the gauge in his ear.

"You could go into tattoos yourself. Your designs were all amazing. I wouldn't mind you designing a tattoo for me, when I'm 18." Leo complimented, emphasizing the final statement jokingly.

"You're serious?!" Marco was taken aback by Leo's compliment, he always got praised for his artwork, but he didn't know whether it was because it came from Leo, or what, but he genuinely thought it was one of the best compliments he'd received for his artwork.

"Of course I am, you might think the sports teams are your thing, but you're a really talented artist." Leo responded softly.

"Wow. I don't even know what to say." Marco murmured, grinning. "If I go into tattooing, I'll need someone to help me run a business, since I'm hardly good with money so I'd be flat out broke in about a week, and you'd be first on my list. I need someone to tell me I'm being stupid sometimes."

"Well I tried and failed this time. I suppose this wasn't _that _stupid though, in hindsight. How come Lizzie isn't your top choice, you two are really close."

"I dunno." Marco shrugged, though he knew, he knew exactly why he'd want to work with Leo. "Probably because she'd spend all the profits on Italian food, and I really value your opinion, so I'd like you there to ask." Marco internally praised himself on not exactly lying, but not spilling the whole truth either.

"You mean that?" Now it was Leo's turn to be surprised by what the other had said. He didn't feel like many people respected his opinions at all, so for Marco to say how much he takes his opinions into consideration was strange, in a nice way. He was trying his best not to let Marco know how he really felt; he knew it would just make everything so much more awkward, since Marco had girls following him all the time, and could flirt with them all at the same time with ease.

Leo knew there was no way he would even consider it.

"Yeah, I do. It's a shame you don't see it. You're an amazing person Leo; don't let people tell you any different. I don't know think I would've coped at all with Cory if you weren't there."

Leo was pretty sure his heart skipped a beat. He was trying to convince himself Macro was just missing his friend and he would've coped fine without him.

"You don't mean that…"

"…I do. You saw how much of a mess I was when I found out about it. I probably still wouldn't have told anyone and I'd just be so miserable. I can trust you with stuff like that. I know you're not the most extroverted, and I'm probably a lot to cope with sometimes, yet you're fine with me calling you up at awful times at night for really stupid reasons, and dealing with my terrible SA's. You may not think it Leo, but you've really helped me."

"You've only failed one SA, they aren't terrible." Leo insisted. "And I did what I thought any good human would do. I'm really nothing that special."

."You need to believe in yourself a bit more Leo, you're better than you think you are."

The boys talked for a further few minutes before they headed their separate ways for home, both with the day's events running through their minds.

* * *

><p>Leo sat on his bed, with Marco's words running through his head.<p>

"_You're an amazing person Leo…"_

"_I really value your opinion."_

"_You're better than you think you are."_

And one comment in particular:

"_It's cute your boyfriend came to hold your hand."_

Leo ran his hands through his hair in confusion. It was the first time he'd ever _really_ sat down and thought about it a bit more rationally. He enjoyed the time he spent with Marco, a lot. More than what he'd felt with other friends. He felt the same way as he did when he had his first crush in Year 7, if he had to compare the feeling to something. What he was feeling was a crush. He had never acted upon a crush, and didn't really know where to begin, especially since he'd never had a crush on a boy before. He knew sexuality was always up for debate, since he'd never thought about it, since he was never the "stereotypical gay person" but he wasn't exactly the macho, constantly at the gym, or trying to pick up girls all the time either. All this thought led him to the conclusion that he had no clue what was going on with his sexuality, but he did know that this crush he had on Marco wasn't going to stay in the back of his mind for very much longer.

* * *

><p>Marco stared at his tattoo, and reflected on the day's events. He was overly flattered that Leo even thought about his artwork in such a way. He also remembered how shocked Leo was by his compliments when they were walking home. Marco smiled at how much he liked Leo's introverted, nature, and his endearing lack of self-confidence, even though Marco thought he was adorable.<p>

He also noticed the continuing thoughts running through his head, which had been nagging at the back of his mind for a while, but the thoughts became more and more prominent in his brain, the more time he spent with Leo. He didn't mind it occasionally, but when they got more frequent, he was super conscious of his actions in case he did or said something and blew his cover and rendering their friendship to an awkward mess. Trying to convince himself he was straight was his main priority by flirting with the girls in school, though he never really felt anything towards the girls. He used to be able to have any girl he wanted, but he just didn't want any.

'_I'm straight, I like girls, right?'_

'_But Leo's smile is adorable.'_

'_No, no, he's my friend, it's weird fancying your friend, isn't it?'_

'_But you do though, don't you?'_

But he was so conflicted. He knew he still liked girls, and there were girls he found attractive, but then why was he getting butterflies every time Leo text him.

Another main thought running through his head was the tattoo artist's comment.  
>"<em>It's cute your boyfriend came to hold your hand."<em>

Making him rack his brain for answers to the so many questions running through his head.

Was he really as bothered about this as he reacted? No, of course not. He was more embarrassed that his face went like a tomato than the actual comment.

Did he want to hold Leo's hand? Kind of.

Was it because of the pain? Most likely not.

Did he want Leo to be his boyfriend? Possibly.

Did he think Leo felt the same way? He had no clue.

But one thing was for certain

Marco had most definitely fallen for Leo Fitzgerald.

**AN: Woohoo! Finally some development, eh? Even if the chapters seem to be really long, I only planned for this to be short, but that plan didn't really work, so sorry for the big lot of super long chapters idk when to stop anymore. Sorry updating has slowed down, I've had the flu, and tbh all I really wanted to do was sleep, so updating wasn't really on my mind. I'm still feeling a bit icky, but I'm well enough to type etc. **

**The tattoos may seem random, but I promise it plays in hugely later on :D**

**I love everyone who reads/reviews/follows/favourites and like always….**

**See you next chapter ^_^ xxxxx**


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I do not own Waterloo Road or any of the characters in the story**

**Chapter 12**

Marco gave himself internal pep-talks to try and speak to Leo. At first, he did just try and act normal, but he ended up being overly conscious of his actions and end up doing something stupid. He didn't understand it; he could get girls he liked by acting smooth and confident. But maybe that was his problem. He knew Leo saw through the act, so he'd just look like an idiot.

He didn't know what to do to not look like an idiot.

Unknowingly to Marco, Leo was having a similar dilemma, only he had no plan Z like Marco did, since he was useless with talking about this stuff, he wouldn't know where to begin, what to say, the best way to say it. He knew he'd end up looking stupid if he tried too hard, but he had no idea how not to look stupid. He ran through scenarios in his head with how it could turn out, but they were never positive. He knew he'd have to say something eventually, but finding the right time wasn't easy. There was too many people walking home from school and over the phone or texting was not even an option.

Leo thought he could maybe organise a day out, where he could probably say something, but Greenock wasn't the biggest of cities with a million things to do, and unlike Marco, he didn't have a ton of money to spend on whatever he wanted. There were some pretty places by the loch, but that would seem really weird if Marco thought they were just hanging out as friends.

The two had both attempted to try and speak to each other, always starting with something along the lines of _"Hey, erm I have something to say."_ or something similar, and they would get too nervous, and bottle it, usually diverting the subject of the conversation to something ridiculous that really wasn't that important.

Something putting Marco off from talking to Leo was his more sporty friends. Brandon always made comments about how "gay" it was that he wore eyeliner, which were now bothering him more than usual, as well as more homophobic slurs were used when Brandon was around his friends, and in training, and nobody ever said a thing, though it made Marco very uncomfortable. Was it such a bad thing? It was the 21st century, it shouldn't be a problem, but it was.

Also, Marco had ended up being caught with his tattoo, receiving a lecture from Mr Lowesly that he could be arrested for fraud for having a fake ID, and a tattoo can damage career prospects etc., though, Marco just nodded along, though he didn't _really_ care about it, everyone else seemed to love it.

Lizzie continued to tease Marco over his and Leo's friendship, stating how he never offered to walk home with her, even though she lived in the opposite direction, though (thankfully for Marco) nobody else in their friendship group really shared her opinion, and just wrote it off as Lizzie's over-active imagination.

Leo was lucky, in the sense that he didn't have that added nonsense from others. His Dad and Justin were relieved that he finally had a friend, even if they didn't seem compatible at a first glance. Justin would sometimes make a joke about Marco giving Leo girl advice, and Leo just laughed along, it was the best way to avoid an awkward situation. He'd been to visit his mum in the clinic along with his brother and their dad, which could've went better, with her not being happy with Justin's relationship with Tiffany, like everyone else, and Leo kind of ended up fading into the background as usual. He knew people didn't purposely forget he was there, but Leo wished that he didn't have to be loud and obnoxious, or as argumentative as his brother, to be involved in a conversation.

He assumed that was why he got along with Marco so well, because although Marco talked a lot, he did listen to him, even if it was selectively sometimes, but for serious stuff, he did listen, and include him. He understood Leo wasn't outgoing and extroverted and took it into consideration, which only made it more difficult for Leo not to talk to him about it.

* * *

><p>It was meant to be a typical Tuesday, but Marco had decided today was the day. He was sick of worrying, and decided it would be better if he just got it off his chest, or so he thought. The last time he decided that he was going to talk to Leo about it, he ended up changing to topic by pulling out a doodle and lying that it was a tattoo design, and he knew today he had to have slightly more normal conversation topics.<p>

It was proving to not be Marco's day, as anytime he tried to talk to Leo, he got whisked away by Lizzie, or Brandon would want to talk athletics with him or the bell would ring, and when he did have the time, he'd get nervous and change the topic. He was starting to think the world was against his idea from the get go.

Leo was slightly confused by Marco's behaviour that day; he seemed more erratic than normal, as if he was focused on something entirely different to his school work. He wondered what was bothering him, but he hardly got the chance to ask, as he barely seen Marco all day, and when he did, Marco nearly talked his ear off about some really random subjects. He hoped Marco wasn't avoiding him, panicking and trying to think if he'd done anything to make the red head upset, but he couldn't really think of much.

Even in their last lesson, PE, Leo noticed Marco was acting really distant and lost in his own thoughts, but differently than what he was when he found out about Cory. He didn't seem upset, just completely side-tracked. It was so out of character, it had Leo bemused.

'_He's seriously not all there.' _Leo thought, still finding his absentmindedness endearing.

In all honesty, Marco knew side-tracked didn't even come close. He was completely lost in thought, trying to think of the best way to tell Leo he liked him as more than a friend, and what could possibly go wrong. He knew the huge possibility Leo would find it incredibly weird and it would ruin their friendship

But he tried to grip on to any positivity he had, and knew there was a small chance Leo might possibly like him back, and that small chance was worth the risk.

After PE, Leo decided to wait outside the changing rooms for Marco. He was usually the last one out because of his slight narcissism. Leo wasn't the confrontational type, so he was going out of his comfort zone for this, but Marco's strange behaviour last time proved he was going through some serious stuff, and actually did need to talk about it.

Marco walked out of the changing rooms, and immediately saw Leo. His stomach was doing flips.

"You've been acting really weird today, are you okay?"

Marco tensed up. What was he going to say? His mind was blank, as he stood stammering, not being able to force any words out of his usually talkative mouth.

"I… I..."

Without thinking, Marco grabbed Leo's tie and pulled him close, smashing his lips against his own. His mind was screaming at him for how stupid this was, and for him to stop. Leo's eye's just widened, thoughts filling his head.

'_Is this a joke? Is this even real? What?"_

When Marco pulled away, all he could stammer out was "I… I'm sorry" before hurrying away, kicking himself in his thoughts.

Leo just had to take a minute to process what had just happened. He was sure this was all in his imagination, Marco never really seemed like he'd be interested. He didn't even think it made it any easier, especially since he had no clue where Marco had ended up running off to.

Still deep in thought, Leo decided he probably headed out of school, and that the best place for him to look was the sea front, since he remembered him commenting on how calming he found it. Leo was so wrapped up in his thoughts, he hardly noticed Justin join him as he was walking the corridors.

Earth to Leo." He joked, snapping the younger sibling out of his train of thought.

"What?" He asked, still sounding slightly dazed.

"Do you want a lift home; it was forecast to rain this afternoon?"

"I think I'd rather walk." Leo replied. "And I thought you said you were going out with Tiffany tonight."

"I am, so I need to get home quickly so I can get changed and since Dad isn't busy, he's offered us a lift. So do you definitely want to walk?"

"Yeah, I'm feeling a bit ill. The fresh air might help."

"You do look pale." Justin remarked sympathetically as they walked towards the school's exit, "There is a bug going round, so you might have that, but if it starts raining and you get more ill, I'll not feel sorry for you."

"It would be just my luck." Leo sighed. "Thanks for the sympathy, bro."

"Anytime." Justin replied in the same sarcastic tone "I'll see you later, yeah."

Leo just smiled and nodded in response, feeling bad he'd just lied to his brother, but if Leo himself didn't understand the situation, he was hardly going to be explaining it to anyone else.

Leo knew where it was likely Marco was, so he slowly made his way out of school, he had no idea of what to say, or what would even happen, but Leo knew that his self-described, boring life was about to get a lot more interesting.

**AN:Omg, it's not REALLY long, but ughh, I wrote more, but I'm splitting it into 2 chapters because 3,000 + words is a lot for 1 chapter, so it's best to split it :D  
><strong>

**Thanks for all the reviews, follows, favourites and everyone who silently reads. You're all awesome!**

**See you all next chapter!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I do not own Waterloo Road or any of the characters in the story**

**Chapter 13**

Making his way along the benches, Leo easily spotted the messy bright orange hair from a mile off. Leo took a deep breath as he walked closer to the red head.

"Marco…" Leo began, as Marco's head snapped round, looking like a deer in headlights.

"Look I know what I did was really weird, and I understand if you feel really awkward about it and if I've ruined everything I'm so sorry, I panicked, I didn't know what to do." Marco was speaking so fast Leo was struggling to understand what he was saying, but he was getting the gist of it. "Ijustreallylikeyouandididntknowwhattosaypleasedonthateme."

Although it was spoken at a million miles an hour, Leo understood every last word the last statement.

"Why would I hate you?" Leo asked, inhaling deeply, knowing all he had to do was say it, but Leo was never the emotional type, and he felt there was a huge mental block stopping him from saying it, as much as he wanted to. "Look, Marco, I… I really like you too." He mumbled extremely quietly. Marco had to think if he was hearing right.

"Y-you do?" Marco had to admit he was shocked. He prepared himself for the worst, so he didn't really know what to do.

"Yeah." Leo admitted, sounding slightly more confident in his answer this time. "So what do we do now?"

"I'm not sure." Marco admitted. "So, um yeah, sorry for losing my way with words." he mumbled.

"I didn't mind." Leo shrugged. "I thought you were going to punch me."

"I wanted to punch myself." Marco sighed. "How come I can have dozens of girls flirting with me, and I keep my cool, yet you make me act like a complete idiot?"

Leo blushed and looked down embarrassingly. "You're not _that_ bad. Even if I thought you'd taken something today."

"Yeah, I had it all planned out in my head, but then every time I wanted to speak to you something got in the way. I thought it was Earth telling me it was a stupid idea, so I kind of panicked."

"Well, there's worse ways for someone to panic."

"Yeah, I suppose." Marco sighed. "I'd rather forget about it. It's kind of embarrassing."

"Your first kiss is kind of difficult to forget about." Leo mumbled, almost inaudibly. Almost being the crucial word.

"Your first kiss? You mean your first time kissing a boy right? …"

"…No." Leo interrupted. "I wish I could say yes, but, I'd be lying."

Marco's eyes went wide, causing Leo to cringe.

"No way." Marco said in disbelief.

"I know, how sad, right." Leo sighed. "I'm 16, and I've never even kissed anyone. I've never had a girlfriend, or anything."

"You've kissed me, that counts." Marco chuckled, trying to bring him from falling into a pit of self-loathing. "Honestly, I don't think it's sad at all."

Leo smiled slightly, letting out an exasperated sigh. "You're just saying that."

"I'm not. Honestly, I wish I could forget my first kiss. They're awful 99.9% of the time and mine was with this girl, and I was just getting it over with. I kind of wish I'd made it more special."

"I must be part of the lucky 0.01% then, because mine wasn't that bad at all, even if it wasn't really intentional."

Marco tried to ignore the growing blush across his cheeks. He was delighted He and Leo were now on the same page, but he had no idea where to go from there.

"So, what do we do now?" Marco asked.

"I dunno." Leo shrugged. Although, he did know what he wanted, he knew it would be slightly more complicated than most relationships in the school.

"I fancy giving it a go if you do?" Marco inquired.

"Yeah, I'd like to as well." Leo agreed. "I just have no idea how I'm going to tell my Dad and Justin."

"Yeah, I'm not looking forward to that part." Marco winced, being reminded of every homophobic remark Brandon had ever said at that one moment, and how much stick he'd get. "I suppose we could keep it between us, until we feel a bit more comfortable with it, and so we can prepare ourselves for it all."

"Good idea. I don't think Waterloo Road is the most accepting school when it comes to stuff like this."

"Not after what I hear Brandon say." Marco mumbled in annoyance.

"I've heard it as well." Leo sighed.

"I just thought it would be nice to have no hassle before we face the fire." Marco suggested.

"No hassle with you? I doubt that." Leo joked, making Marco glare at him jokingly.

"I don't know what you mean." Marco chuckled, feigning innocence. "You knew what you were getting yourself into even speaking to me. You could have easily told me to fuck off."

"I doubt you would've listened, even if I did." Leo responded. "You asked for tattoo opinions, and then completely went against what I said and got one anyway."

"Hey, your argument wasn't convincing enough." Marco shrugged. "Besides, if it weren't for that damn tattoo artist; I guess I wouldn't have thought about us like we do."

"Yeah." Leo chuckled, remembering the exact words of the artist vividly in his mind. "That was one of the most awkward situations I've ever been in, in my life."

"Ditto." Marco laughed. "He was so sarcastic when I denied it too. I'm sure he knew more than we did.

"Yeah, I guess it's partially his fault I'm stuck with you."

"Stuck with me? I'm sure you mean have had the honour to spend your time with me." Marco retorted, feigning hurt. "But yeah, I wouldn't have minded you know."

"What?" Leo asked.

"I wouldn't have minded back in the tattoo shop, if you'd come to hold my hand." Marco replied, more confidently than he probably felt. He then placed his hand on top of Leo's, making the latter jump slightly. Leo decided to go with his gut feeling for the first time in a long while, moving his hand, so his fingers intertwined with Marco's, making it his turn to be slightly shocked. The silence between the two was comfortable, as both boys were deep in thought, hands still locked together.

Surprisingly, it was Leo to break the silence with a small chuckle, after reflecting over everything that had happened that day.

"What?" Marco asked inquisitively.

"You're so cheesy." Leo replied, with a smile still plastered on his face. "'I wouldn't have minded at the tattoo shop if you'd come to hold my hand.'" He mimicked, making Marco's cheeks flush pink.

"Hey, it worked." Marco defended calmly, looking down at their hands. "It didn't sound that cheesy in my head."

"I didn't say it wasn't appreciated." Leo responded.

"Oh, now who's the cheesy one?" Marco chuckled, making Leo blush.

"It's probably because we eat too much pizza." Leo suggested jokingly.

"Probably." Marco agreed "I might be cheesy, but my dates don't stretch much more beyond pizza, Netflix and video games I'm afraid."

"Sounds perfect to me."

"Only I don't normally pick rainbow road when I'm trying to be nice to people."

"I still beat you too."

"Don't remind me." Marco huffed. "We have to finish the rest of those Portal co-ops sometime too."

"Yeah, we crashed out last time, maybe a few more red bulls and we'd not be as bad."

"Fancy it Friday, after school?" Marco asked.

"Yeah, it should be fine. I'll have to clear it with my Dad though; he's still a bit annoyed about last time."

"Sorry about that." Marco replied sheepishly. "You can crash at my place if you want." Marco immediately panicked, seeing Leo's unsure reaction. "I-I mean it'll be better because there's no doubt we'll will burn out on caffeine again, so you won't get into any trouble with your Dad."

"I'll ask," Leo nodded, stopping Marco before he dug himself a deeper hole. Leo's phone buzzed just after he'd spoke, making him wonder if his Dad was like Beetlejuice; you just had to say his name enough times and he'd appear.

"Hello, Dad." Leo answered, rolling his eyes. "Yeah Dad, I'm fine, I was walking home with Marco and we lost track of the time. I know, yeah, last time _was_ a one off…"

Marco could feel Leo's hand tense. The boy wasn't one to let his emotions get the better of him, but he could tell whatever his Dad was saying to him was really getting on Leo's nerves.

"…Right, okay. I'll see you at home. Yeah, I'll not be long. Bye" Leo sighed, putting the phone down, running his spare hand through his hair in frustration.

"You okay?" Marco asked. He knew the question was pretty stupid, but Leo wasn't the emotional type, Marco knew that, so he couldn't really force him to talk about it if he didn't want to. He understood Leo had already opened up to him more than he'd done to most people on the planet, but sometimes, he wished he'd not be scared to express his feelings.

"I'm fine." Leo responded. He felt as if that phrase just slipped off his tongue now he'd said it so many times. It wasn't that he was fine; it was he had to be. With his mum and Dad filing for a divorce, his mum being ill and Justin and his Dad arguing 24/7, Leo felt he really didn't need to add to the mountain of family issues they had. He'd couldn't remember the last time he had someone to talk to when he wasn't fine, and even though he knew Marco was suspicious of this, and he'd be more than happy to listen, Leo had bottled everything up for so long, he felt as if it was no longer possible to even try anymore. It was if the 'I'm fine' was the best coping mechanism he had. If he could convince everyone else, that would suffice until he could convince himself.

Not wanting to push things too far, Marco sighed standing up, and pulling Leo to his feet.

"I guess we should get going."

Leo nodded, as the pair made their way hand in hand along to the same place they parted every day. Leo still trying to fight off his bad mood, knowing who was in his house would only make his mood worse.

The pair stopped as they reached the corner. Neither of them wanted to let go of the others hand. Marco broke the hand holding when he pulled Leo into a hug.

"You know if you need anyone to talk to I'm here, right." Marco mumbled.

"Yeah, I'll make sure I do." Leo responded.

"Promise?" Marco asked, breaking the hug.

"Promise." Leo nodded.

Marco smiled, leaning in and gently pressed his lips to Leo's. Unlike last time, Leo didn't freeze up, and Marco was surprised when the smaller boy kissed back.

Marco was unsure of why everything felt so right, but he was learning to no longer question it, and to just enjoy the good feelings.

Both boys were smiling as they pulled away.

"I'll see you tomorrow." Leo spoke.

"Yeah, see you later." Marco responded, as the two walked home with grins that would rival the Cheshire cat.

The day might have started out as a train wreck, but both boys would agree that it ended better than either would have ever expected.

**AN: Yay! I kind of got what they wanted to say in the first 1,000 words, so the rest was kind of just fluffy adorableness, because they deserve some happiness. The next few chapters will probably be more on the relationship development, because that means they can be happy for longer without anyone to ruin it.**

**I love any reviews/reads/ favourites or follows. I love you all guys ^-^**

**See you next chapter!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: I do not own Waterloo Road or any of the characters in the story**

**Chapter 14**

The next day in school went by quite normally for both Leo and Marco. Lizzie ranted on about how she wants a boyfriend, but everyone Marco mentioned was apparently awful.

'_And she said I have high standards.'_ Marco sighed, listening to his brunette counterpart rant on, occasionally nodding, and pretending to care.

"It'll be the same every time. I mean why can't I find someone nice?" Lizzie huffed. "Am I not pretty enough? Am I too loud? Too bossy?"

"No, you're fine." Marco replied rolling his eyes. "You'll find the right person eventually; it's just the guys in this school like their girls easy. You don't need to put yourself out there, honestly, the right guy will come."

"I suppose." Lizzie sighed dejectedly. "Maybe it's the curly hair…"

"…Lizzie, just drop it. People don't like desperate, it's not cute."

"Wow, someone's grumpy today." Lizzie snapped.

"No, I just need you to snap out of this self-loathing bubble you're in; it's putting me on a downer."

"Well, I know something that will cheer you up!" Lizzie cheered; Marco was worried about how quickly Lizzie's mood changed.

'_Oh god. Should I fear for my life?'_

"Brandon's throwing a party on Friday night, and we're all invited, how cool!" Lizzie squeaked.

"Thanks, but no thanks." Marco shrugged, leaving Lizzie stammering.

"W-wait, you're turning down a party, I thought you loved to party."

"Yeah, but from the sample I got last time, the parties here are pretty crappy. Plus, my drink got spiked last time, and I don't fancy ending up like Cory."

"It wasn't a _great_ party, but it wasn't crappy!" Lizzie retorted defensively. "And we'd make sure that didn't happen again. Everyone felt really bad, especially since your friend died…"

"…that's not the point. I could've died too. The only reason people felt bad was because of Cory, not the fact the same could've happened to me quite easily, and none of you gave a damn."

"Come on. You should go." Lizzie pleaded.

"I already have plans for Friday night, too. I'm not one to cancel plans."

"Really?" Lizzie replied in disbelief. "And what are these plans of yours?"

Marco had to tread carefully. If he and Leo didn't want things out in the open yet, it was probably best to make something up.  
>"Oh, I have a friend up for the weekend on Friday night from London, and we're having a pizza and Netflix night."<p>

"Really, you're turning down a party for pizza and Netflix? You should just bring them along."

"They're arriving quite late, there'd be no point going by the time the train arrives and stuff."

"So your London friends are more important than us."

"Well this one is, yeah. You would do the same for a one of your childhood friends, wouldn't you?"

"No, because I just talk over Facebook like a normal person."

"Well tough, I'm not going." Marco stood firm.

"Everyone will think you're such a bore though." Lizzie made a last ditch attempt to convince her redhead friend.

"_Lizzie_." Marco replied, shaking his head in disappointment. "Why should I care? I'm allowed nights in."

"_Fine._" Lizzie huffed. "You're so boring lately; it's probably hanging around with Leo Fitzgerald too much."

Marco rolled his eyes. "What does he have to do with this?"

"Well, you know I think you two _look_ good together." Lizzie began, and Marco knew if anyone else was talking about it, he'd be so defensive, but as it was a usually conversation Lizzie had with him, he'd grown used to it. "And you've been hanging around with him more. Maybe his boring ways have changed you."

"Don't be stupid." Marco defended. "And he's not boring, you're just judgemental."

"_Really_." Lizzie replied sarcastically. "I've never met someone so boring in my life! There has to be a reason he has no friends."

"People are allowed to like different things. Maybe people just haven't tried to get to know him."

"Come on!" Lizzie sighed, utterly exasperated "You get more personality from my goldfish."

"Okay, that's just mean." Marco was trying not to get agitated and low his cover, but Lizzie was making it difficult. "Why do you have such an issue with me talking to Leo? It's not affecting anyone else."

"Yes, but it's hardly doing your social life any favours. I'm only saying this because I care."

"No Lizzie, you're just so shallow you only want 'popular' friends."

"You think I'm that shallow?"

"You were _just_ talking about your boyfriend issues like it was the end of the world then went and attacked my life choices. You should understand I'm a bit annoyed; maybe I don't want to go to parties and hook up with some random skank just so I can say I pulled. Maybe I did that in Chelsea, but Greenock is a different place."

"Sometimes I wished you'd just go back to Chelsea and stay there." Lizzie sneered, immediately regretting what she'd just said, as Marco's eyes narrowed.

"Well, it's nice to know what you really think." He replied coldly. "Bye Lizzie."

* * *

><p>"I mean who the hell does she think she is saying stuff to me like that?" Marco ranted walking home. Leo had to try his best not to laugh. The pair usually argued, but Marco seemed to have blown it out of proportion.<p>

"It's nice you were defending me and all, but you both just seem like you overreacted."

"You think?" Marco asked, being snapped out of his rant.

"I'm used to people saying bad stuff about me all the time, I'm fine with it, and what she said to you seems like she was just angry."

"I don't know how you deal with all the shit you get, Leo." Marco sighed, pulling out his phone and texting a half-arsed apology to Lizzie.

Leo couldn't really answer Marco, because he had no idea himself. It was becoming more difficult for him to just write everything off, though he would never admit it, things were really starting to pile up onto him, and the fact people were so awful to him got to him more than he'd let on.

"You get used to it." Leo replied.

"It shouldn't be something you have to get used to."

"Can we just drop it?" Leo replied, making Marco overly aware that the topic seemed to be something Leo avoided often. He wasn't a person to pressure people into things, yet he was always told to talk about it, or it would just get worse. Obviously, Leo had never had that, but Marco wasn't quite sure of what to do to help him, since he knew ignoring it wouldn't make it go away.

Almost as a reprise of the day before, neither Leo nor Marco wanted to let go of one another's hand when they reached the same corner they left each other every day. Leo's phone was again the cause of his distraction, which he wished he could throw at a brick wall at that particular moment.

"I meant what I said yesterday." Leo looked confused at Marco's comment. "I'm here if you need me for talking to."

Leo just nodded. "I know, and I appreciate it, but it's nothing I can't deal with."

"Fine, if you say so" Marco sighed, sounding defeated. "I'll have to make sure Friday is 'cheer up Leo' day then."

"I'm honestly fine." Leo insisted. "We don't need any 'cheer up Leo' days. At all."

"None? Well that's too bad, since you already said yes to Friday, there's no backing out now."

"Isn't Brandon having a party on Friday?"

"Yeah, so?" Marco shrugged. "That's basically what my whole argument with Lizzie was about."

"I thought you'd be going, that's all."

"I already had plans with you, why would I cancel hanging out with you to go to some stupid party? Unless you want to go along with me?"

Sensing the sarcasm laced in Marco's voice, it didn't take much for Leo to get the hint Marco _really_ didn't want to go to this party.

"No thanks, it's not really my scene."

"Good, because I had no intention of going in anyway. I'd rather spend my Friday night eating my own body weight in junk food and playing video games. And y'know, I think I'm overly paranoid about people drugging me, again."

"Yeah, that would put me off ever leaving the house."

"It's happened before. I deal with it." Marco shrugged. "I guess it never really bothered me that much until Cory died, it kind of hit home just how stupid I was."

"Well, we'll be drugged up on caffeine; that counts."

"True, caffeine is a wonderful drug though; I'd never get through life without it. I can't get through a morning without a cup of coffee."

"Not a morning person either?" Leo enquired.

"Never. Mornings are awful."

"If I didn't have my Dad nagging at me all the time, I would probably sleep through my alarm."

"I'm guilty, phoned in sick at school since I didn't wake up 'til 11:00."

"Okay, I've never been _that_ bad."

"But your Dad is a teacher, so you'd never get a sick day for sleeping in."

"Yep, sometimes I'd rather my Dad not be a teacher, you're lucky."

"My Dad hates kids, there's no way he'd give up his comfy well-paid office job to teach snotty teenagers with attitude problems. They couldn't pay him enough. He tolerates me and my brothers because we're his, but he doesn't like most kids." Marco reminisced,

"I never knew you had brothers." Leo inquired.

"Oh, yeah, I'm the youngest of three." Marco shrugged, as if it was casual information that wasn't important.

"You aren't much of a family person, are you?" Leo asked, immediately feeling guilty, seeing Marco's reaction. Leo made a mental note not to bring it up again, if it was as sensitive as a topic as it seemed.

"You could say that." Marco agreed, regaining his composure. "You seem like quite the opposite."

"I have to be. With my mum in hospital and my parents divorced and Justin and my Dad arguing all the time, someone has to try." Leo replied. He regretted speaking about it as soon as he said it. He assumed Marco wouldn't really want to hear about everything wrong with Leo's life. He had his own worries. He was unsure if the small cracks in his "I'm fine" façade were because of it all being too much, or if it was him being able to trust Marco more.

Marco gave Leo a sympathetic smile. He'd never been in a situation where everyone was so reliant on him, and had no clue of the kind of stress that would put on a person. Marco was quite used to disappointing people, but it seemed Leo wasn't, and the thought of doing so had closed him off to the world.  
>"You're amazing, you know?"<p>

Leo blushed, just looking down.

"I'm serious, you might not believe me, but you are." Marco insisted, pecking him on the cheek.

The two departed with a kiss and hug like the day before and they both headed home.

Leo entered his house and was immediately alerted to the lack of sound in the flat. The TV was off, there was no music blasting from Justin's room, or any arguing. The silence was slightly unnerving, as it wasn't usual Leo returned to an empty home.

Walking into the kitchen, he saw two different notes on the table.

'_Hi Leo, my phone's got no credit, I've gone out with Tiff, should be back later tonight_

_Justin."_

Leo just rolled his eyes, his brother having no credit really wasn't something new, but he was surprised the note was left in the open, when he knew how much his dad didn't like him and Tiffany together.

The other note that caught his attention answered this question.

'_Hi boys, had to head out for a bit, should be back later. Justin could you make dinner tonight for you both if I'm not back._

_Dad'_

Leo sighed, annoyed that he'd just been left, and the fact his Dad assumed he wasn't able enough to cook for himself. Plus, he hadn't long called him, asking where he was and if he'd be home soon. Leo was starting to wonder whether he was his son or his house keeper.

'_I'm 16 not 6.' _ Leo had to take a minute to calm down; he was getting angry over nothing, if he wasn't calm then who would be?

'_Even my own family would rather be anywhere else.'_

Leo tried to shake away the negative thoughts. They usually nagged at the back of his head, but since his mum got ill, and they'd moved to live with their Dad, and he'd left his old school friends behind, he had these thoughts. He felt like nothing but a burden to those around him.

His spiral of self-loathing wasn't easy to snap, but Marco seemed to notice when Leo was feeling down, as much as he tried to just deal with it on his own, he would always say something to make him laugh or something so completely off topic, he had no clue how his train of thought got him there.

Maybe he wasn't as much of a family person as Marco assumed? Because all Leo really wanted was to be a normal teenager, but he knew the harsh reality.

He surpassed normal a long time ago.

**AN: Sorry this is filler-ish and boring, but development is always fun, no? I tried :P**

**Date night next chapter :3**

**Thanks for all the reviews, follows, favourites and reads! You guys are super awesome!**

**See you next chapter! xxx**


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: I do not own Waterloo Road or any of the characters in the story**

**Chapter 15**

Leo hadn't really recovered his "I'm fine" state of mind since the other day, as much as he tried; he knew Marco knew something was up.

He did kind of want to talk about it, but he didn't really think his problems were bad enough for him to stress over, which only got him more annoyed at himself for stressing over nothing.

Marco noticed how Leo was acting. Although it wasn't obvious, and his perception wasn't always the greatest, but the amount of time Leo said "I'm fine" was something Marco knew well. He'd done it himself, just say you're fine and people won't push it, usually.

Marco stuck by his word making Friday cheer up Leo day, since he noticed his off mood.

"You're staying in tonight?" Brandon asked, shocked by the boy's bluntness about not going.

"Yeah, friend from London's coming up and they'll just want movies and food, it's a long train ride."

"Wow Marco, we didn't think _you'd_ be the boring one, bragging how you partied in Chelsea like you were some super star." Lisa taunted. "All talk, I think."

"No, but you can hardly compare Greenock to Chelsea." Marco sniggered. "That's like comparing a Ferrari to a Nissan Micra. Besides, movie nights and pizza with people that aren't going to drug me is a better option."

"That was a one off." Brandon insisted.

"Yeah, it was for the people that spiked Cory's drink too, and he's dead." Marco sneered.

"Mate, you can't ever go out because of it." Brandon insisted. "Honestly, I think you've been talking to that Fitzgerald geek for too long. He probably fancies you mate."

'_I would bloody well hope so'_ Marco thought, making himself laugh. "Right, how'd you work that one out genius?"

"Come on, don't you two walk home together. Seems a bit gay."

'_You walk the opposite way, how do you know?' _

"Yeah we walk home together, don't you and Mattie walk home together, is that not a bit gay?" Marco retorted.

"What? Are you calling me gay?" Brandon asked angrily. "I'd rather die."

Marco's eyes widened, and he had to refrain from laughing nervously. "You can't be serious."

"It's wrong!" Brandon exclaimed. "It's fucking vile, and the fags can all fucking die."

Lisa, Shaznay and the group all agreed, making Marco extremely uncomfortable.

Thankfully, he was saved by the bell, so he could escape the group.

'_Damn this is not going to be easy.'_

Walking home, Leo and Marco were just generally chatting about the day and school work etc. Marco still noticed the down beat attitude Leo had. Leo also noticed Marco seemed a little on edge.

"Are you alright?" Leo asked.

"I'm fi-" Marco began, stopping himself immediately. He knew if he wanted Leo to open up, he had to as well. "Brandon's a tool. It's just made me really wary about who we tell about this. I mean he basically wished us dead… it just makes me petrified in case my family share the same view. Like what happens if they hate me? Or they want me dead just as much as he does. What if I end up having to go to boarding school in London because I can't go to school without fearing for my life…?"

"…Marco." Leo said sharply, snapping Marco out of his ramblings. "It's like you said, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

"Yeah." The redhead sighed. "Sorry, today was meant to be 'cheer Leo up' day, so I'll stop rambling on."

"You don't need to." Leo replied, "I thought I said I didn't want a cheer up Leo day."

"So you don't want to finish the portal co-ops, eat a ton of pizza and have a movie marathon? Fine, we'll do Mulgrew's SA instead."

"I didn't say that." Leo defended. "And I remember we did that for a cheer up Marco day, with added Smash Bros and Mario Kart, and no movies."

"Cheer up days, are always like that." Marco shrugged. "I'm not really romantic, sorry."

"Me neither, so I'm not complaining." Leo replied.

The two entered Marco's house, and Leo remembered how the place barely looked lived in. It seemed more like a show home.

"I forget how clean this place is." Leo admitted, joining Marco on the sofa. "You must pay a fortune for cleaners."

"Actually I don't have one." Marco replied sheepishly. Leo looked at him in confusion, struggling to believe the rugged, punk Marco kept his house this clean on his own.  
>"Don't look at me like that!" Marco whined. "I may be a 16 year old boy, but it doesn't mean I have to live in a pig sty."<p>

"Yeah, but I never expected punk rocker Marco Fletcher to be a clean freak." Leo teased, but thinking about it, it did make sense. Even if he had a rugged appearance, his hair was always done to the way he wanted, any creases in his clothes were there purposely, and his eyeliner was almost the same on both eyes every day.

"I'm not a clean freak. I just like everything to have a place."

"So that thing on the fridge isn't a cleaning and gym schedule?" Leo continued.

Marco looked away hiding his reddening face. "I'm organised, and today was cardio, so be thankful I like you, instead of cardio I'm clogging my arteries with pizza and chips." He then turned and stole a chip off Leo's plate.

"You have your own."

"Yeah, but we're going out, we're meant to share things, like food."

"Is that a hint that we swap a pizza slice?" Leo asked, seeing as the boys got 2 separate flavoured pizzas. Marco just swapped two slices of his own pizza and Leo's in response, smiling at the boy happily as he ate a slice.

"As long as you don't get Hawaiian pizza, I'll probably want a pizza trade. I just can't bear the thought of pineapple on pizza, it's not right."

"Don't worry; I'm not a fan either. Pizza night home is a nightmare since my Dad and Justin love it.

"Ew, no." Marco cringed. "It's like carrot cake. I like carrots, and I like cake, but together it's gross."

"Well at least we share views on important things like pizza and carrot cake." Leo pointed out sarcastically.

The boys continued to joke as they ate pizza whilst attempting Portal co-ops.

"Come on! The portal goes there." Marco explained; pointing at how he thought the puzzle was solved.

"Why would it go there? There's no point of having one there."

This kind of disagreeing continued for a while, and after completing 2 more maps, they were bored of it, and decided it was time to not completely frazzle their brains.

"I love Portal, but it makes me feel really stupid sometimes." Marco grumbled.

"Ditto, it took me ages to complete the games." Leo agreed.

"Maybe we should put on something a bit easier while my brain recovers." Marco suggested, bringing more food to place on the coffee table.

The boys agreed on a short play on Mario Kart before numbing their minds with mindless gore with some horror movies, which turned into a few more hours playing video games.

As expected, Leo was winning, much to Marco's annoyance.

"You cheat!" He exclaimed, holding the accelerate button down as hard as he could. "Bowser you fat piece of shit, move!"  
>Then, he got an idea. He looked over at Leo, whose eyes were fixated on the screen. With a devilish grin plastered on his face, Marco quickly leaned in and pecked Leo on the cheek, distracting him. Leo's head turned to face Marco, who was cackling evilly as he overtook him.<p>

"And you said I cheat." Leo said, glaring at the laughing boy.

"I would apologise, but I'm _so_ not sorry." Marco chuckled as he passed the finish line.

"Was that your plan from the beginning?" Leo asked.

"More like a last ditch attempt to win at least something. Plus, I got to see your reaction. That was a win in itself." Marco continued to snigger.

"You didn't know I'd react like that."

"Of course I did, every time I kiss you, you get all embarrassed."

Leo had hoped he hadn't noticed. Marco was a lot more observant than what he let on. "You surprised me."

"I'm not saying it's a bad thing. It's really cute."

Leo just blushed, struggling to hide his smile as Marco put his arm around his shoulder.

"We should do this more often." Marco suggested, breaking the silence.

"Yeah, it's nice," Leo agreed "Except when you cheat at Mario Kart."

Marco chuckled. "You're never going to forgive me for that, are you?"

"I don't know." Leo shrugged. "It's hard to trust someone who'd cheat at _Mario Kart._"

"Well maybe _someone_ needed to let me win something." Marco complained. "Especially, since before I met you, I thought I was the best at Mario Kart."

"Well I had plenty of practise, we used to play it all the time when…" Leo stopped his sentence as the nostalgia was replaced with sadness, and knowing that it would never return.

Marco noticed the change in Leo's expression. It was similar to the expression he would have when mentioning his family, especially over the past few days.

"Are you okay?" Marco asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Leo sighed, his tone of voice really wasn't convincing Marco.

Marco removed his arm from around Leo and stood up, making his way over to the kitchen.  
>Leo immediately froze <em>'He's annoyed isn't he. I'm such an idiot.'<em>

"I'm making tea, if you want some?" Marco offered, snapping Leo out of his thoughts. "I have a few flavoured ones too, some of it isn't that nice, but the raspberry's quite nice."

"Yeah, I'm fine sticking to normal tea though."

"Let me guess." Marco said enthusiastically, rubbing his temples, as if he was trying to read Leo's mind. "Milk, no sugar?"

"One sugar." Leo corrected.

"Damn, I guess I'm not being a psychic in later life." Marco sighed.

"I thought you were more of a coffee person." Leo questioned, since he rarely saw Marco entering school without a coffee cup in his hand.

"It depends on the day, or the time." Marco shrugged. "Coffee in the morning, or all-nighters, tea if I can't sleep, studying, or with bacon sandwiches, and hot chocolate if I'm cold, or its Christmas. I have any of the three but if I'm unsure I usually go for tea."

Leo just smiled, he never noticed how organised Marco had his life, yet acted like he was walking chaos, and Leo was the opposite, his life seemed organised, but really it was a bit of a mess. He was snapped out his thoughts as his phone rang. He sighed seeing it was Justin, wondering what the issue was this time, or what he had to cover him for etc.

"Hi." Leo greeted, in a happier tone.

"Hey, Leo I know now isn't a good time but, I thought it's best to tell you now than later."

The sincerity and solemnness in Justin's voice immediately worried Leo. He knew for his brother to call him and not start with "Hey, I need you to do me a favour" it was something serious.

"What's up?"

"It's Mum, they've had to stop visitors; she's not been taking her medication."

"Y-you're not serious." Leo said in disbelief. "But we were meant to go and see her on Sunday; the doctors said she was getting better."

"I know." Justin sighed. "I'm gutted; she was looking so well, I don't know what it was that set her off, but they think it was our last visit, they think it was probably too soon."

He heard a female voice at the other end of the phone, which he assumed was Tiffany.

"Well I've got to go." Justin replied, distractedly.

"Yeah, I'll see you soon, and thanks for letting me know."

"No problem, see you later yeah.

"Yeah." Leo sighed, as the phone went dead, receiving a concerned look from Marco.

"Your tea's ready." Marco chirped up.

Leo got up and joined Marco in the kitchen, sitting at the breakfast bar, as Marco put the mug in front of him, as he joined him at the other side, leaning his head in his hands, as Leo just stared at his tea.

"Look, I know you don't like speaking about stuff, so you don't have to if you don't want to, but you've seemed really down the past few days, and I know it can be tough, but sometimes speaking to someone actually helps."

"It's nothing." Leo mumbled. Marco just smiled at him sympathetically, knowing fine well it wasn't.

"You sure?"

Leo didn't answer; he just remained staring off into space.

As the silence grew longer, a thought drifted into Marco's head from the day he found out about Cory.

* * *

><p>"<em>You feeling any better?" Leo asked, even though he already knew the answer Marco was going to give.<em>

_Marco just looked down to the floor, unable to bring a smile upon his face. "Yeah, I told you I'm fine." Marco felt the lump getting bigger in his throat. He knew he couldn't speak another word without completely breaking down. The look on Leo's face said it all: he didn't believe a word Marco was saying, and he knew he couldn't badly act his way out of it._

"_I'm pretty sure people's hands don't shake when they're fine." Leo retorted, not meaning to say it out loud, he was slightly taken back by himself, it sounded a lot more harsh spoken rather than in his head._

* * *

><p>He knew what Leo did, and as harsh as it felt at the time, it got him talking about it quite quickly, but Leo, although he would say it was fine, was quite sensitive, so he knew if he was to try it, he'd have to tread carefully.<p>

"Are you sure you're alright?" Marco asked. Leo's eyes didn't lift from his cup.

"Yeah, I said it was nothing, I'm fine." Leo said, sounding slightly annoyed.

"I'm pretty sure people who are fine don't stare at their tea."

"I told you Marco, can you drop it?" Leo snapped.

"I'm only trying to help…" Marco retorted, slightly shocked at Leo's tone. He feared he may have pushed it too far.

"… well don't. I don't need your help." Leo answered back coldly. He didn't mean it, he knew he didn't, yet he couldn't stop himself. He felt as though this was the automatic defence, so he didn't have to bother with his problems, and Marco was trying to break through, and he didn't really know what to do.

"So when I do it, it isn't helpful, but when you did it when Cory died it was perfectly okay."

"Actually, you nearly bit my head off as far as I can remember."

Marco sighed, knowing this wasn't going to work

"Well, just so you know your _"I'm fine" _thing can only last so long."

**AN: OMG I'm so sorry, cliff hanger and stuff, but it's all continuing next chapter I promise!**

**Thanks to all who reads reviews follows and favourites**

**I'll see you all next chapter! xxxxx**


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: I do not own Waterloo Road or any of the characters in the story**

**Chapter 16**

"_Well, just so you know your "I'm fine" thing can only last so long."_

Leo just froze. He didn't know why it hit him so hard, but it did. He knew those words were the truth, but he'd been denying it for years, and it was even more difficult to hear coming from someone else, especially someone he cared about so much.

Leo never knew how badly his "I'm fine" attitude could affect him. His family basically relied on him, the youngest one, to be the most mature and level headed, and he always dealt with it by just saying those two words. The biggest lie he'd ever told. He did it so other people didn't stress over his problems, so he didn't have to be centre of attention for all the wrong reasons, and most of all, he didn't want anyone to think he wasn't coping.  
>However, he never realised how much this way of thinking made him distant from everyone else. While he was very compassionate and caring about other people's problems, he was essentially pushing away the people that cared about him most, and eventually, there would be nobody left, and he would be alone.<p>

His mum was ill, more ill than first thought, and going through a divorce with his Dad. His Dad was so invested in work, or arguing with Justin he never really gave Leo much notice, since he never caused any trouble. Unlike his brother, as he and Tiffany were joined at the hip, much to the distaste of his Dad and Tiffany's mum and brother, which made life even more difficult as there was always arguing and fighting and Justin making Leo lie to his Dad for him.

Then there was school, besides Marco, nobody gave him the time of day. The teachers almost forgot he existed and he was a prime target for bullies. He'd heard every name possible so many times he was no longer insulted, though some of the newer ones just added to the massive pile of insecurities on his list.

"I'm fine" really meant "I have no clue what's even bothering me anymore" because to Leo, it was all just one big blur of negative thoughts which was always there, and he no longer found explaining it feasible, or so he thought.

The silence in the room was deafening as Leo's thoughts spun round his head, as if every negative thought he'd ever experienced in the last year had just smacked him in the face.

"I-I'm sorry, look I didn't mean to upset you, honestly." Marco apologised, not snapping Leo out of his thoughts as it usually would.

Leo was terrified of losing Marco over him being unable to convey emotions. Marco was the first person in a long time to show genuine interest in him, he was certainly very special.

'_So why haven't you told him that?'_

"Leo?" Marco questioned quietly.

Leo had been too deep in thought to notice, but he was shaking slightly, he was upset, but he felt numb more than anything.

"I-I'm sorry." He apologised, almost inaudible. Marco just looked at him confusedly.

"What are you sorry for?" Marco inquired.

"I'm sorry for being such a bother." Leo sighed wiping his eyes with his hoodie sleeve, trying his hardest to keep his composure.

Marco just stared blankly at him "What? You're not a bother, why would you think that?"

"I shouldn't be putting you on a downer all the time."

"You're the one who's been upset. I'm not on a downer, I'm worried about you."

Leo really wanted to know why he still felt like the weight on his shoulders was 10 tonnes, his head buzzing with all the bad things that have happened over the past year. Then there was Marco, genuinely worrying about him.

But why?

Not even his family were _that_ worried about him.

"You shouldn't, I'm okay." Leo replied shakily at a whisper, trying to stop his emotions getting the better of him. He wanted to admit that he wasn't but there was something stopping him from doing so.

"Are you sure about that?" Marco asked, not believing a word the boy was saying. And by the way his breath was shaking; Leo knew fine well it was a lie, and a pretty bad one at that.

Leo just shook his head, as he wiped away a few stray tears, as Marco shot him a concerned look. Marco got up, and sat next to him at the other side of the breakfast bar, and hugged him tightly.

Leo didn't know why, but this made any attempt of not losing his cool ten times more difficult, and he was sure Marco didn't appreciate him crying into his shoulder. Though really, he didn't mind at all.

"Is life being shitty?" Marco asked, knowing there wasn't many eloquent ways to put it. Leo just nodded, feeling as if all his emotions had just stomped on his head.

"Is this because of what was said on the phone?" Marco asked, pulling away from the hug.

"Part of it." Leo admitted.

"Part of it?"

"The list is long." Leo sighed, staring into his now lukewarm cup of tea. "I'm sorry. This isn't how anyone wants to spend their Friday night."

"You have nothing to apologise for. Life gets too much sometimes; it just so happens, life is being a bitch for you right now."

"But I don't need to drag you into it."

"I dragged you into mine." Marco replied.

"Yeah, but you had bigger problems…"

"…no. Don't think your problems are irrelevant because _'people have it worse'_." Leo cringed at Marco's sentence; he was hitting the nail on the head right now.  
>"Leo, how long has it been since you've actually talked through any of this stuff with anyone?"<p>

Leo went wide eyed, he had no clue himself. He was thinking back and found it difficult to pinpoint a time he did. "I think it was before my mum was ill."

"Jeez, that long." Marco sighed.

"It was hard at first, but when Dad and Justin started being less bothered it was easier, now they just talk to me, and I have to keep a level head."

"You're 16, Justin's around 18 and your Dad is a grown man. You shouldn't have to be the mature one."

"Well someone has to." Leo shrugged, as if it were normal. "It's worse thinking Justin doesn't really seem to care about anything other than Tiffany now. He hardly seemed bothered that mum's been stopped having visitors round, but I just want her well again."

"Weren't you meant to be seeing her this weekend?" Marco asked, Leo nodded, looking almost hopeless.

"Well, at least Justin called you when he found out, at least."

"Yeah, I suppose." Leo sighed. "I don't know why I feel like such a burden on them though. Sometimes, it seems as if they'd be happier if I wasn't there, so they could get on with their day without having to bother with me."

"So the whole "I'm fine" thing is just you trying to be the adult."

"Kind of, yeah. It makes people think you're coping."

"Even when you're not." Marco sighed, knowing the feeling well enough, though he'd hate to be in Leo's situation.

"Pretty much. I know it's stupid, but it's easier to just get on with it. I feel like such an idiot."

"What for? You're allowed to show emotion you know; you _are_ human after all."

"Yeah but, I don't normally speak about it, it's all kind of just piled up."

"Well you can rant to me as much as you want, and I really wouldn't mind, in fact, I'd rather you rant at me than you end up like this all the time. Plus, I rant at you, so you can return the favour." Marco joked, making Leo crack a smile.

"I don't really rant that often."

"I've noticed." Marco replied. "You're allowed to get pissed off at the world if it's being cruel. It's natural human thinking, it'll only make your mood worse for longer if you prevent it."

"I know. It's just hard finding people to talk to. I can count on one hand the people I'd trust to be able to talk with like this and not make me an idiot to the whole school."

"Well I'm always here." Marco replied sincerely, smiling at Leo. "Even if it's three in the morning and we're both half dead, but you can't sleep because your brain has decided to think over actively at stupid times. I'm happy to pick up the phone."

"Thanks." Leo replied, "Would it not annoy you though?"

"Of course not! I'd rather you talk to me about things, but I probably don't give great advice at 2am, but I can listen."

"The same goes here too though."

Marco smiled, then frowning as he took a sip of his tea, cringing at the temperature of his beverage.

"Sorry I didn't really do a good job with 'cheer up Leo' day." Marco sighed, re-boiling the kettle.

"Actually, it didn't go too bad." Leo shrugged. "I feel better since I've talked about it."

"Yeah, but I really hope all our date nights don't end up with one of us crying, unless we watch Marley and Me." Marco joked. "If you don't cry at Marley and Me, I'm going to be worried."

"I've never seen it." Leo admitted, receiving a shocked look from Marco. "Is that bad?"

"Yes, everyone's seen Marley and Me! Ditch the crappy horror films; we're watching it, right now." Marco replied, grabbing Leo's hand as he basically dragged him to the sofa as he put the film on, completely forgetting he was about to make tea, instead grabbing a bowl of popcorn. Sitting and joining Leo, and entwined his fingers with his.

The film started, and at first, Leo had no idea why Marco had hyped it up so much, it was a cute dog, causing trouble and it was cute and all, but nothing worth crying over, but as the film climaxed to its devastating end, Leo felt himself getting teary eyed.

He turned to face Marco and chuckled seeing him crying at the movie, as sad as it was.

By the end, both boys were crying a lot more than what they had originally planned, and as the credits rolled, both were laughing at each other, wiping away their tears.

"Why would you do that to me?" Leo asked.

"Why did I do that to myself?" Marco laughed. "I cry so much but I know what happens."

"Thanks for introducing me to horrific films that destroy your soul."

"I like to share the experience." Marco joked. "We could take our minds off it with this." He held up a DVD case for an obviously overly-gory horror film, that was probably terrible, but mind numbingly violent.

"Getting over sad animal films with terrible horror movies, makes sense." Leo replied sarcastically.

"Aww, need me to hold your hand if you get scared?" Marco taunted.

"No, horror movies aren't normally scary, just a bit gross." Leo retorted.

"Blood, guts and gore. All great, but I was probably more scared of Five Nights at Freddy's than any of this crap." Marco agreed.

They decided to put the film on anyway, and it was a generic, pretty boring horror film, and with it easily being the early hours of the morning, it didn't take long for Marco to fall asleep on the sofa.

When he woke up, it was to the horrifying sight of some character getting brutally murdered. He was about to sit up as he realised he'd fallen asleep on Leo's shoulder, he looked up and saw Leo half-interested leaning on the edge of the sofa, probably dropping off to sleep himself. Leo noticed Marco wake up, and smiled at him.

"You say you do all-nighters all the time."

"Yeah but I'm tired." Marco yawned. "And you make a good pillow. Has the movie been any good?"

"Not really. Everyone's dead, and people have been bleeding far too much from their injuries, but it was never going to win awards."

"Shame, loads of people said it was great."

"I'm probably still too emotionally drained from Marley and Me to care."

"Yeah, sorry about that." Marco mumbled sleepily.

"Its fine, I guess because it's you I'll get over the trauma."

The two turned as the movie finished, with one last overly gory murder. "Well that was shit." Marco sighed, not wanting to get off Leo's shoulder.

"Yeah, I wish there were some decent horror movies around."

"Five Nights at Freddy's: The Movie." Marco suggested, the very thought was enough for Marco, animatronics and puppets/dolls anything of that nature really creeped him out.

"I would probably go and see that."

"You'd be going alone."

"It's not _that_ scary."

"Really, because everything about them creeps me out."

"Well I know what I'm being next Halloween."

"If you do that; I'll murder you with a rusty spoon." Marco threatened, jokingly

"You'd be a terrible murderer; your weapon choice isn't great."

"I might be able to pull an AK-47 out of thin air. For all you know, the spoon is a distraction"

"Yeah, 'cause spoons are so interesting." Leo rolled his eyes.

"You never know, your reflection might be funny in the spoon, and get distracted laughing at your face."

"Is that the best you've got?"

"At the minute, yeah. I could plan a survival plan for the zombie apocalypse if I could be bothered."

"Too lazy to survive the zombie apocalypse."

"If there was a real threat of one I wouldn't be lazy, but it depends on the zombies, are they the fast zombies that run and viciously attack you, or the old-fashioned brainless corpse that's slow, and pretty easy to kill?"

Leo laughed at how much detail Marco was going into, if this was when he couldn't be bothered to plan it out, he seriously believed Marco had a fully planned out zombie apocalypse plan that was almost perfect.

"What's so funny?" Marco asked, chuckling.

"I never thought my boyfriend was such a nerd." Leo laughed, then stopped, realising what he'd said out loud. They'd never really discussed labelling it, so he really hoped that hadn't made it awkward.

Marco was a little shocked to hear Leo say it, not that it wasn't great to hear, but hearing it from Leo first was definitely something he didn't expect, and he couldn't stop the smile creeping onto his face.

"Well I never had any doubt that my boyfriend was a complete geek." Marco joked, leaning up from Leo's shoulder to kiss his cheek.

Leo sighed in relief that Marco hadn't taken it half as badly as he expected. "I'm not even going to try to deny that one."

"I would laugh if you did." Marco mumbled, half asleep.

"Yeah, it would be pretty stupid." Leo yawned.

The two carried on talking nonsense for a short while, before they both ended up asleep on the sofa again.

For the first time in a long time, Leo fell asleep without anything nagging at the back of his mind, and it was a feeling he could get used to.

**AN: omg so sorry this is a late update, I had no idea how to end this nicely, I apologise!**

**Thanks for all the reads/reviews/follows/favourites. I love you all so much ^_^**

**See you next chapter! xxxx**


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer: I do not own Waterloo Road or any of the characters in the story**

**Chapter 17**

After saying goodbye to Marco, Leo made his way home. Extremely sleep deprived, and never wanting to see energy drink again, he entered the house, hearing the TV; he knew someone was home at least.

He dumped his stuff in his room before entering the living room, to see Justin playing on his phone, and his Dad sitting watching TV, neither of whom even noticed Leo had entered the house, never mind the living room.

"Oh, Leo, I didn't hear you come in." His Dad spoke up, looking away from the TV. "Have a good night?"

"Yeah."

"You're spending a lot of time with Marco." Justin spoke up, still staring at his phone.

"Yeah, he's a good friend."

"_Friend_, that's not what people at school are saying bro."

"What do you mean?" Leo asked, not having any clue what his brother was on about.

"Well, they think you fancy him."

'_Well yeah I do.'_ Leo knew he couldn't say it, so he just laughed. "Oh my god. People are really stupid, people don't say that about Mattie and Brandon, and they spend every minute of every day together." He was a bit put off at how easily he'd just lied to his family.

"Mattie got with Lizzie last night and at his apparently." Justin shrugged. "I'm just looking out for you, you know bro, don't want people thinking things."

"Yeah, because they don't do that already." Leo sighed. "Thanks though."

"Do you have to gossip about your classmates like that?" Vaughn asked, rolling his eyes at Justin's vast knowledge of other people.

"I'm just telling Leo before he finds out from someone else." Justin insisted.

"People can get the wrong idea; it's the 21st century Justin, I'd rather be gay than homophobic, there's worse things to be called."

"Since when were you all liberal and 'equality for all'."

"I always have been, you've just never noticed. I don't see why it's a problem, people can like who they want; it shouldn't matter."

"Hear that Dad, people can like who they want." Justin sneered, taking Leo's sentence out of context to refer to him and Tiffany.

"We could do without this Justin." Vaughn replied. "You're nearly 18, she's 15. That's illegal."

"She's nearly 16, and what would it take for you to get it and accept that I love her?"

"Justin, just leave it." Leo sighed, trying to calm his brother down.

"No, _he_ left us, and then when we're back in his life he tells us how to live ours."

"Whatever. Just leave me out of it." Leo sighed, getting up and leaving the room, where the two continued to argue.

He entered his room and just lay on his bed, running his hands through his hair. It was as if as soon as he'd managed to talk it out with Marco, and have a night without having to worry about anything more problems were created for him. He was barely in the room half an hour, and the pair was already fighting. Justin didn't take his eyes of his phone, and his Dad seemed more interested in the TV. Leo couldn't remember the last time his family actually gave a damn.

He began thinking about last night. How Marco used him as a pillow for most of the night. How they both cried more than they'd admit to Marley and Me. How they shared pizza, and laughed about nothing. How Marco had plans for a zombie apocalypse, which were not discussed. How Marco listened to him more than anyone had in a long time. How he wasn't angry when Leo lost his cool. How he cared enough to put up with him.

How he was one of the best people he'd ever met.

* * *

><p>"<em>Well I'm always here." Marco replied sincerely, smiling at Leo. "Even if it's three in the morning and we're both half dead, but you can't sleep because your brain has decided to think over actively at stupid times. I'm happy to pick up the phone."<em>

* * *

><p>Leo held his phone, unsure if Marco meant what he said, but a small part of his made him think it never hurt to try.<p>

The phone rang, and as Leo held the phone to his ear, he didn't really know if this was such a good idea, he was about to hang up, when he heard a familiar voice at the other side of the phone.

"Hello." The voice mumbled sleepily.

"Hi." Leo responded.

"Leo?" Marco questioned, making Leo wonder if Marco ever actually looked at his caller ID before picking up the phone.

"No, it's Taylor Swift." He replied sarcastically, hearing a familiar laugh from the other end of the line.

"Are you missing me already?" Marco laughed.

"Why would I miss _you_?" He asked jokingly. "They've managed to annoy me already; I haven't been in the house an hour."

"They've started fighting already."

"Yeah." Leo sighed. "That was after Justin decided to tell me people at school think I fancy you."

"Well I hope you do, or that would make thing pretty awkward." Marco joked. "Yeah, Brandon said something to me about it. I just ignored them. I didn't think of it as a big deal. Brandon assumes anyone who even shakes hands with someone of the same gender they're gay."

"He's probably the thing I'm most scared of, for telling people."

"Yeah, I would tell people, but I don't want to die." Marco agreed. "Why is it so hard for us? I thought people would be over it."

"Me too, I never really thought about it until we got together, and I never really realised how bad it is for people like us here." Leo then stopped, hearing shouting from the living room, as his family's argument heated up even more.

"You alright?" Marco asked.

"Yeah, just making sure my family don't kill each other."

"Yeah, family, eh? Nothing but trouble." Marco agreed.

"You never really talk about yours."

"With good reason. They're nothing worth talking about." Marco sounded slightly uneasy, Leo knew this was a sensitive topic, but he talked about a lot the previous night which he didn't think he was going to.

"You'll tell me what's up with that, eventually."

"Up with what?"

"You always get really nervous when I mention your family, like we said; we'll talk to each other, yeah?"

"Yeah." Marco sighed.

"Honestly, as long as you aren't someone sent to kill me, or part of the mafia or something, I'm fine."

"Sadly, my family isn't that cool. They're all _really_ academic on my Dad's side, and my mum could put Alan Sugar to shame with her business-like stuff."

"They don't sound too bad." Leo encouraged. "You don't need to speak about it if you don't feel like it."

"I pushed you into speaking last night." Marco sighed, sounding guilty.

"I needed it." Leo replied. "I wouldn't have ever said anything otherwise. It's probably a bit different with you and your family."

"Not really." Marco mumbled. "We've just never seen eye to eye. My oldest brother is doing his PhD in astrophysics, and my other brother is in Cambridge University studying to be a doctor. Then there's me. I'm never getting a PhD, or being a doctor. It's quite easily to feel like a disappointment."

"Is that what's up?"

"Well that and the fact they think shipping me off to boarding school will help me be a genius like my brothers. If it goes bad at Waterloo Road, I'm off to one of the strictest boarding schools in the country. That's why I can't fail."

"But you still need to do stuff you like. You shouldn't try too hard to impress other people. You're an amazing artist, so why focus on something like science, when you know you hate it. Obviously you need to pass, but A-level options aren't too far away, don't chose something you know you'll hate."

Marco knew Leo was right, and he really hated that he was, because he knew he had his parents to impress as well as making himself happy, which seemed impossible.

"My parents have never seen any of my art. They probably aren't interested…"

"… Show it off. They might be doing this because they don't know how talented you are."

"Yeah, I'll sort something the next time I see them." Marco replied, feeling slightly better. "You know I rant for too much to you. If you ever get sick of me please say."

"Honestly, you're fine." Leo sighed, rolling his eyes, with a smile on his face. "But if you need extra help with science, I'm not terrible."

"Are you suggesting we have a study date?" Marco asked playfully, making Leo's face turn red.

"If that's what you to be."

"Cool, we'll organise it more at school."

Leo cringed, hearing a door slam, and someone (most likely Justin) storming up the stairs.

"I have to go, but I'll see you Monday."

"Yeah see you then." Marco chirped happily, as the phone line went dead, and Leo just sat on his bed.

For the first time in a long time, he felt like he had someone to talk to, and someone who didn't mind spending time with him, even if he was never really the party goer or wild child, but Marco didn't seem to mind. And with all the drama going on at home, Leo enjoyed being able to spend time with someone without feeling ignored, or having them feel disinterested.

Leo was snapped out of his thoughts by a knock on his door. He got up and opened his door to see Justin standing at the other side.

"Look Leo, I'm sorry if you got the wrong idea before. I didn't mean…"

"… I know. It's fine." Leo nodded.

"What's up with you and Marco anyway? You two are the last people I thought would get on."

"We're friends, and I help him out with his school work, he really needs to pass everything this year, so he asked if I could help him out."

"Yeah, I heard he wasn't bright." Justin chuckled.

"He's not that bad actually." Leo corrected. "It isn't easy when you're not really interested. It's like getting me to do well in PE."

"I'd love to see that." Justin laughed. "I can tell people if they bring it up you know, get them off your back."

"Yeah, thanks bro." Leo was unsure whether this was a good idea, but people respected Justin in school a lot more than they respected him.

Justin just nodded, and walked off, leaving Leo to his own thoughts. He knew he should feel guiltier than he did for lying to his Dad and brother, but with how bad everyone would take the situation, Leo knew it was for the best until he and Marco could prepare themselves for the onslaught.

But Leo knew it was definitely worth it.

**AN: Omg sorry for the slow updates, I started a chapter, then decided to make that next chapter, and decided to fit one in between them, so I had to put something together, so here it is ^-^**

**Thanks for the follows, favourites, reviews and reads, I love you all!**

**See you next chapter! Xxx**


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer: I do not own Waterloo Road or any of the characters in the story**

**Chapter 18**

Marco and Leo spent the next few weeks happily walking home and spending most Friday nights at Marco's house studying, playing video games and watching movies. Leo was the happiest he'd been in months, and Marco was too.

School wasn't too much of an issue. Mock exams weren't much of an issue for Leo, and Marco wasn't _as_ bothered as he thought he would be, even if he contemplated drinking his body weight in vodka after the geography mock.

However, Marco had noticed he and Lizzie had started drifting since Brandon's party, she'd been hanging round with Lisa and Shaznay a lot more, and he was pretty sure her and Mattie were an item, but he wasn't bothered enough to ask.

The rumours about him and Leo ad stopped, since they both used the excuse of school work, and Marco's overly strict parents as to why they spent so much time together.

Marco was finding athletics more of a chore than something fun, with him not really interested, he was not performing as well. Since he only really did exercise as a stress release and a way to take his mind of things, he hated the fact they were making something he enjoyed so stressful.

Something Marco was looking at was his artwork. Miss Westbrook was over the moon with his work, and surprised with how his style was developing to be more diverse. She always told him how talented he was, and he wished he could devote more of his time to it, but everyone expected him to be the athletic idiot. He hated letting people get to him, but he knew it happens, plus, he knew it would all sort out eventually.

"I have your mock exam results here." Miss Mulgrew said, holding slips of paper, since it was Friday last lesson, the pupils were getting all their results at once, delivered by Sonya during the lesson.

"Good luck." Leo said, seeing Marco's face whiten. "You'll be fine."

"Y-yeah, I should be fine." Marco laughed nervously. "I bet you aced yours."

"You will have too, don't worry." Leo replied sympathetically, as the bell went and the two left the classroom.

"Should we check them now?" Marco asked, walking out of the gates.

"It's up to you." Leo shrugged. "I'm not that bothered."

"We should, gets it out the way." Marco sighed nervously. "You first."

Leo nodded; checking his paper, as he read a smile crept upon his face. Marco looked over his shoulder.

"Oh my god, you swat." Marco joked. "You haven't gotten lower than a B."

"You next?" Leo asked, wiping the smile from Marco's face. He wished Marco would believe he was smarter than he thought.

"Okay." Marco said, preparing himself as he opened the letter, and read through the paper, with a shocked expression on his face. Leo looked at his paper.

"See, told you, you'd do fine."

"I've never gotten an A* before." Marco spoke, stunned.

"Really? You shouldn't be getting anything less in art." Leo replied. "You've passed everything, even after your hour long rant about the geography exam."

"That thing nearly kick started a drug addiction." Marco defended. "And it was probably thanks to those study dates."

"Really?" Leo replied, sarcastically.

"Well, it helps if studying's more fun." Marco laughed. "We should celebrate our smartness."

Leo just nodded, knowing it was going to be some crazy idea Marco thought was an amazing idea, but turned out to end terribly, with them both laughing at how stupid it was.

The Marco ideas were never simple.

"I have a bottle of champagne at home, so instead of video games and pizza, as great as that is, we could have some champagne, and we could go to the supermarket, and I can cook something."

"Is that a good idea, the last time we tried cooking you nearly burnt your house down, and you had to throw out the baking tray because the cookies were so burnt they stuck to the tray."

"Those things could've knocked someone out." Marco chuckled. "But I can cook a bit, I have to survive on stuff other than ready meals and take-away. I have a recipe app on my phone too, so I can choose something from there, and I'll cook it."

"Wow, and you said you weren't romantic."

"I'm full of surprises, but make sure we have the number ready to call in for food if this goes terribly wrong, champagne and pizza is less romantic, but better than food poisoning, or eating something radioactive."

"Got it." Leo laughed. "So Gordon Ramsey, what are you planning?"

"I was thinking steak and chips, and I'm not like Gordon Ramsey!"

"Are you sure? I didn't think it was possible for someone to swear so much in under a minute when we tried to make cookies."

"Yeah, I'm never going to be a baker." Marco agreed sheepishly. "Cooking is different, it should be fine." He said, confidently.

So after trailing through the supermarket for a while, with Marco's eyes constantly flicking to his phone so he didn't forget anything, they finally had everything they needed.

The pair reached Marco's house, where he reached for his trusted phone so he could follow the recipe.

"Do you want some help?" Leo asked, seeing Marco's confusion at the rather vague instructions.

"No, I said I'd cook for you." Marco insisted. "Is medium-rare okay?"

"Whatever, I don't really eat steak very often."

"You're missing out." Marco had to remind himself that not everyone had the luxury of overly wealthy parents, and for many, steak was more of a luxury.

"Well it's not very often I'm treated to steak and champagne.

"It's a thank you for helping me not fail." Marco replied cheerily, as the steak sizzled.

"Are you sure you don't want me to help?"

"If you don't mind." Marco gave in. "Start peeling the potatoes for the chips, please."

"Yes chef." Leo joked, saluting him.

As Marco passed him to return to the steak, he pecked him on the cheek. "You're too cute."

Leo laughed, trying to ignore the blush on his cheeks. "I have a potato peeler on my hand, is that really sensible?"

"When am I ever sensible?" Marco asked, raising an eyebrow.

Surprisingly, the cooking went by without a hitch, and after it was all set out on the plates, Marco put a large bottle of champagne on the table.

"Want to do the honours?" Marco asked, holding the bottle towards Leo.

"You do it. I'd rather you break something than me."

"Suit yourself." Marco shrugged, not really paying attention as he opened the bottle, with it popping open, and Marco quickly making sure it went in the glass, rather than bubbling everywhere.

"What should we toast to?" Marco asked, holding his glass.

Leo thought for a moment, before finalising his idea. "To great company."

Marco nodded, and they clinked glasses, before taking a sip, and starting their meal.

"Wow, this is really good." Leo complimented, trying to hide his surprise.

"I told you I could cook." Marco laughed. "But I had some help."

"I only cut potatoes…"

"…I was talking about Siri." Marco joked, "But I suppose you helped too." He took another sip of the champagne, reminding himself to take it easy.

"Word of warning, we probably shouldn't drink too much of this stuff. Champagne's just posh wine, so it probably gets me more drunk than vodka does, and the hangovers are ten times worse. Wine hangovers are the worst."

"I wasn't planning on having the whole bottle, that thing's enough to give me alcohol poisoning."

"I'm saying nothing, because I don't like to waste a nice bottle of champagne, so I might end up drinking it tomorrow instead of doing homework."

The two continued to laugh and talk, enjoying their meal, and the store bought desert, since Marco refused to bake ever again.

Also, they'd both had more champagne than what they'd cared to admit.

"My dad's going to kill me." Leo groaned, realising he still had to go home. "He's such a dickhead sometimes."

Marco's eyes widened at Leo's bluntness, but he knew it was probably just the alcohol talking, probably.

"Dads are dickheads." Marco agreed, taking another gulp from his glass.

"I don't even need to bother ringing him or anything; he probably doesn't even know I haven't been home." Leo ranted, sipping the last of the champagne from his glass. "I should probably get going."

"Stay, please." Marco whined, grabbing hold of Leo's hand.

"My Dad will kick off if I don't get home."

"But we've finished most of the bottle; we might as well have the rest."

Then it dawned on Leo, he'd get in trouble if he went home or not, and he knew where he'd rather be.

"Pleeeeaaasssse." Marco pleaded.

Leo laughed. "I'll text my Dad."

"Yay!" Marco cheered, getting up and hugging Leo tightly, spinning him round. "Do you want another glass?"

"You said we're finishing off the bottle, right?"

"Yup." Marco replied, popping the 'p'. Going back over to pour more champagne out for Leo and himself.

It didn't take too long for the bottle to end up being empty, much to Marco's sadness. Neither of them was too drunk, to the point they wouldn't be able to remember anything the next morning, but they were definitely drunk, as they cuddled up on the sofa.

"I'm the luckiest person in the world right now." Marco mumbled, resting his chin on top of Leo's head.

"Really, I thought I was." Leo retorted, sitting up, and gently pressed his lips to Marco's. Marco responded by pulling Leo into a strong, passionate kiss, running his hand through Leo's hair.

Oxygen was the only thing preventing them from carrying on, as they broke the kiss, both Marco and Leo had a smile from ear to ear.

"Fancy going somewhere more comfortable?" Marco suggested, as Leo went bright red, stammering, not being able to formulate a sentence; making Marco laugh.

"We don't have to do anything if you don't want to. I'm just fucking sick of falling asleep on this damn sofa."

Leo nodded. He agreed the sofa probably wasn't the best place to sleep, he also knew that if he hadn't have had champagne he'd not have had the courage to be joining his boyfriend in his room.

* * *

><p>The room was comfortably silent, as the two lay in the bed, with the smallest bit of light peeking through the curtains.<p>

"Marco?" Leo asked sleepily.

"Yeah." Marco mumbled, with his eyes still closed.

"I honestly don't even know what I'd do without you."

Marco laughed lazily. "Yeah, me too." He replied sincerely. "Now get some sleep you soppy git.

"Okay. Love you." Leo didn't even realise what he'd said until he'd said it. He'd seen it before about how saying it too soon could ruin a relationship. Damn his stupid tired self. He'd said it in his head, but he really needed to remind himself to stop thinking aloud.

Marco froze at what he heard. He'd never been in a relationship long enough, or serious enough for "I love you" to be said, ever. He'd never said it, and it had never been said to him, so to say he had butterflies was an understatement. He looked into Leo's eyes, and couldn't stop the smile forming on his face.

"I love you too."

**AN: They love each other, Yay! Let's keep them happy before bad stuff happens, like Marco burning his house down bc he tries to bake cookies again (lol jk)**

**Thanks for the reads, reviews, favourites and follows, I love you all so much!**

**See you all next chapter! xxxx**


	19. Chapter 19

**Disclaimer: I do not own Waterloo Road or any of the characters in the story**

**Chapter 19**

Rays of light poured through the window, directly onto Marco's face, disrupting his once peaceful sleep. He squinted as his eyes adjusted to the change in light, and he noticed the terrible headache he had. He hadn't even drunk _that_ much, but he always knew wine gave the worst hangovers, so he'd be paying for it today.

He wondered why he didn't just stick with vodka and coke.

He smiled at Leo's sleeping figure next to him, not wanting to wake him up, as much as his head was aching for a painkiller.

Leo felt a pain in his head, painful enough to drag him out of his peaceful sleep, and as he opened his eyes, they met with Marco's blue eyes staring sleepily at him.

"Morning." Marco greeted, half-asleep.

"I wish. My head's killing." Leo chuckled.

"I warned you that stuff is made from Satan's tears."

"It didn't stop you."

"Yeah, well I'm not the responsible one."

"Yeah, but you're a bad influence." Leo agreed jokingly.

"You'd be bored if I wasn't." Marco laughed, pressing his lips to Leo's forehead.

The room fell into a comfortable silence as neither of them really wanted to get up.

"I've been thinking…"

"Oh no, it's dangerous to do that." Marco joked.

"Yeah, because you nearly set your kitchen on fire when you do."

"That only happened _once_." Marco insisted. "You can't hold it against me forever."

"I won't, but I still find it hilarious."

"So is your thinking any more hilarious?" Marco enquired.

"No, not really. I was thinking about telling my Dad and Justin… about us."

"Yeah?" Marco smiled.

"I didn't want to just tell them without seeing if you were okay with it."

"Of course I am." Marco insisted. "We've been together a while, we love each other, I don't see why you shouldn't. It might be easier once some people know."

"Yeah, hopefully." Leo sighed.

"If I can ever get up, my head's killing, but I'm too lazy to get up." Marco laughed. "We could have morning coffee and painkillers if I wasn't such a lazy shit."

"The daily struggle." Leo sighed in agreement.

After finally managing to haul themselves out of bed, Marco made coffee for them both, as well as a couple painkillers and a cup of water each.

"It should help the bad head."

"And you did this nearly every weekend back home?" Leo asked, wondering how Marco managed.

"Yeah, you wonder why my parents get annoyed at me. Looking back, I was a right little shit."

"I'm pretty sure everyone hates themselves when they look back." Leo said, taking a sip of his coffee.

"Yeah, any form of evidence I was ever 14 has been wiped from the internet, I was a mess." Marco agreed.

"I don't know how I managed to type using so much text speak easily. It would take me like 10 minutes to write that now."

"It's funny because I hate 14 year old kids even more knowing how awful I was."

"At least you weren't a scene kid." Leo joked, and when Marco didn't answer, he couldn't help but laugh. "Please don't tell me you were a scene kid."

"It was the cool thing okay." Marco huffed embarrassedly. "Why do you think my hair's dyed, it changed colour every two weeks when I was 14, I had the fringe and everything." Marco pointed to his messy outgrown fringe, which was usually styled back with his hair.

"I can see it actually, you seem like the person whose Facebook status would've been: 'lol so randomzz xD'" Leo joked.

Marco tried to hide how red his face had gotten. "Come on, at least I'm out of it now, you'll never find a scene kid photo of me."

"Really?" Leo asked, scrolling through his phone, and pulled up a picture Marco was tagged in on Facebook years ago. His hair was dyed black with green and pink in his fringe, which covered his eyes. "Wow, you weren't wrong, you could've been Myspace famous."

"No, nobody needs to see that." Marco whined, trying to get hold of Leo's phone from the table, just managing to snatch it from his hand.

"Marco, you thief!" Leo joked, moving round the breakfast bar, as Marco held his phone up as high as he could.

"With good reason. Those pictures need burnt at the stake!"

"I swear if you don't give me my phone back I'll share that photo."

"How, you won't have your phone?"

"I have a laptop at home."

Marco, knowing fine well he wasn't going to win this one, put Leo's phone back on the breakfast bar, with a defeated look on his face.

"You're lucky I like you." Marco insisted. "My scene kid photos don't get seen by just anyone."

"I'm quite proud to admit I didn't have a scene phase. I wasn't really cool enough." Leo couldn't finish his last sentence without laughing.

"Jeez, I'm so glad I don't look like that now, I would've been stabbed by someone up here."

"Probably me." Leo joked. "Just kidding, but I wouldn't want to know what drugs you were taking."

The boys continued laughing and joking, not all at Marco's expense, until Leo heard his phone buzz. He checked his phone to see a text from his Dad.

_Hi Leo, hope you're okay, just wondering what time you'll be home?_

Leo sighed in annoyance. He hated that whenever he was out the house he was constantly hounded by questions and wanting him home, but when he was home, they barely spoke a sentence to each other.

"I suppose I should get going soon." Leo sighed.

"I should probably make a start on Mulgrew's SA." Marco agreed. "I'll walk with you."

* * *

><p>The pair walked along, with Marco complaining about it being cold, despite him only being in a t-shirt and jeans with a pair of TOMs.<p>

"Well I'll see you Monday?"

"Yeah, I'll text you." Leo agreed.

They kissed goodbye and Leo made his way to his house, knowing it would be the same reaction as last time, but he was going to try and talk with them about him and Marco, but he was terrified.

"It's not like you to stay out late." Justin remarked; looking incredibly hungover as Leo entered the house.

"I text dad, he was cool with it."

"You and Marco spend every Friday night together, it seems." Justin inquired.

"So?" Leo shrugged, as his Dad came out of the living room. They were together and not arguing; this was probably as good of a moment as any.

"I- I need to tell you guys somethi-…"

"Is that alcohol on your breath?" Vaughn asked.

'_Shit, what do I do? what do I do?_

"No, why would it be..."

"…Don't lie to me Leo." Vaughn interrupted sternly. "I never thought I'd be saying this, but you're grounded for a week."

Leo sighed, that could've gone a lot better.

"No way Leo!" Justin laughed. "Marco's finally took you out partying has he?"

"Yeah." Leo answered, kicking himself, but the time had passed; he just had to wait

"Oh yeah, what did you want to say before?" Justin asked, surprising Leo that he'd actually paid attention.

"Nothing. It's not important." Leo lied.

**AN: Sorry it's short, it's just kind of a filler for next chapter, but hope you enjoyed it anyway. I promise next chapter won't be so short. **

**Love you all, readers, reviewers, followers and favouriters (okay last one isn't a word :P)**

**See you next chapter! xxx**


	20. Chapter 20

**Disclaimer: I do not own Waterloo Road or any of the characters in the story**

**Chapter 20**

The week passed on, and Marco felt terrible for getting Leo into trouble, he didn't understand how he got into so much trouble for something so minor. He was thankful Mr Fitzgerald had sad nothing to him, since he was not sure how good that would make things later on.

Leo had tried talking to his Dad and Justin about him and Marco numerous times, which all ended in them pushing it aside, telling him it wasn't a good time, or asking if it was really important enough to stop them from whatever menial task they were doing, and Leo had given up. If they weren't going to listen, then he wasn't going to waste his breath, and it wasn't as if Justin didn't cause trouble.

"You're still up for Friday night, aren't you?" Leo asked, surprising Marco.

"I thought you were grounded." Marco replied, surprised at Leo.

"I am." Leo said surely, making Marco unsure of the ulterior motives behind this.

"Is whatever you're planning going to end up with your Dad and brother hating me?"

"It shouldn't if we're careful." Leo replied. Marco was shocked, it wasn't like Leo to sneak around and defy his Dad; not that he didn't like it.

"What were you thinking of?"

"I've managed to get hold of some ID, and we could go to the tattoo parlour…"

"Whoa, slow down." Marco intervened. "Think this through, Leo. Tattoos are for life. Don't just do this to piss of your Dad, trust me, it's not worth it."

"I was going to ask you to design it, or maybe design something we could get together."

As much as Marco liked the idea of matching tattoos, and as much as he hated being the boring responsible one, he knew Leo would think this was a bad idea as soon as he'd stopped being so angry at his Dad.

"Think about it. It hurts like a bitch and it's _life-long_." Marco insisted. "It's not that I don't think the idea's cool, I just think it's something you need to think about before you jump straight in and get one. I wanted one for years before I got this." Marco pointed to the guitar on his forearm "And if Cory didn't die I wouldn't have gotten a tattoo so soon. I wanted my first tattoo to be one of the best I'll ever get."

"_Come on_ Marco. I thought you loved tattoos and design and stuff."

"I do, but I don't think it's the best thing to do while you're annoyed, because you'll end up with 'fuck off' across your knuckles and I'd not stop your Dad killing you."

"Any better suggestions?"

"There's a band playing on Friday night that is quite cool. They're called Paramore. You might have heard of them."

"Yeah, they sold out."

"Did they?" Marco questioned, holding two tickets between his fingers. "I had it planned that me and Cory were going to go together, but obviously that didn't work out, so I wasn't going to go, _but_ surprise!" Marco replied with a grin plastered on his face.

"Wait, you had this planned all along?" Leo questioned.

"Yeah, and you went and got yourself grounded, and ruined my surprise. I wasn't going to tell you until Thursday night."

"Wow, so we just need train tickets to Glasgow…"

"…Already sorted. Your Dad is probably going to hate me though."

"My Dad won't notice I'm gone, so you're fine."

* * *

><p>Friday rolled around, and they were both super excited for the concert. All Leo had said to Marco was for him to not worry about it when it came to him actually getting around being grounded. All he heard from Marco about it was not to wear anything too nice.<p>

Leo was sticking to the idea his Dad and brother would be home after him if he got home quick enough, since Justin usually sat in the library for a while and chatted, and his Dad was never home early, no exceptions.

Arriving home, Leo worked out his plan had succeeded, and he all he had to do was leave a small notice, like they did for him.

"_Hi,_

_I'm in my room asleep. I feel really ill so I'll just skip food tonight, I just need to sleep it off._

_I've taken cold and flu tablets and I have a few in my bedroom with water, so I should be okay._

_Leo,_

Alibi sorted. Bedroom with the cliché pillows under the duvet, sorted. He still hadn't heard the door, so Leo made his way out, making sure to not do one of the locks, so they thought he was home.

Leo had never really done any of this before, but it was definitely more interesting than his constantly fighting household.

He met Marco quickly and the two made their way to the concert venue, and by the lack of phone calls or angry texts, his plan was working so far. He knew Marco would be sceptical over his plans, so he just kept it to himself, so they could have a good night.

"What are you doing?" Leo asked as he saw Marco painting streaks on his face.

"It's UV body paint." Marco answered, painting more streaks up his arms and put a hand print on his shirt. "Do you want some?"

"Yeah, sure." Leo accepted, just drawing random squiggles on his arms with the illuminous paint.

"Let me draw on your face!" Marco said excitedly.

"Draw something you shouldn't and I'll kill you." Leo warned.

"I wouldn't" Marco pouted. "I'll make you a cat."

Without being able to argue, Marco had already put paint on his nose and stated drawing whiskers on his face.

"Really?"

"Yeah! I'll need plenty of photos though. You're so camera shy, but not tonight."

Leo rolled his eyes, but decided he was just going to roll with it tonight since he was out, he may as well have a good time.

* * *

><p>A few songs into the set, and many selfies later, Marco and Leo were laughing hand in hand, singing along to the songs and enjoying the atmosphere.<p>

The next song started and as the song progressed, and the crowd sang along. Leo didn't ever want to leave, he was having such a good time, the atmosphere was enticing, the crowd was electric, and no matter how gross and sweaty Marco insisted he was, Leo knew he couldn't spend this night with anyone else.

As the song slowed down before the final chorus, Leo glanced at Marco and it felt as if time froze. He wasn't usually one to initiate anything, but stranger things had already happened that night. He'd actually rebelled his Dad's orders, gone to an amazing gig, and even let his boyfriend paint cat whiskers on his face with UV paint, and take far too many selfies.

But it was perfect.

Leo grabbed Marco's t-shirt and pulled him into a passionate kiss. Marco felt his cheeks heat up and his eyes widen. He had no idea what had got in Leo's head, but whatever it was, Marco liked it.

Leo pulled away when he was almost snapped out of his state by the strangers cheering around them, almost sending him back to his usual shy state and making him realise exactly what he just did.

"Oh my god, you two are so cute!" A girl complimented.

"Thanks." Marco laughed sheepishly.

As the concert drew to a close, Marco and Leo exited the arena like everyone else.

"My ears will be ringing for weeks." Marco sighed, feeling the post-concert blues. "Look at you though; I didn't think you had it in you."

"What do you mean?" Leo questioned, knowing fine well what Marco meant.

"You caught me off guard." Marco replied. "In front of so many people…"

"…are you angry?"

"No way!" Marco cheered, as Leo sighed in relief. "I just didn't expect it."

Leo pulled his phone out and his eyes went wide. His plan obviously hadn't worked. Marco seeing Leo's change in expression and wondered what was up.

"Are you okay?"

Leo's shock turned into a smile. "I'm dead when I get home." He showed Marco the phone screen with a missed call from Justin.

"Wait, you said you'd sorted it.

"I did, but it didn't work. They don't notice me except when I don't want them to."

"As long as they don't blame me for it, I'm fine." Marco shrugged. "You should probably call him though, before he tells your dad."

Leo just rolled his eyes. "I won't bother. It was probably about Tiffany anyway."

"If you're sure." Marco knew he should probably stop Leo, but he knew how his Dad and brother were with him, and he'd be pissed off too if his family were like that. He knew why Leo was doing it, and if it was helping, and none of it was unhealthy, he didn't see why he shouldn't do it. It was better than him just not speaking about it and letting it build up. To Marco, it made perfect sense.

"You're such a little rebel." Marco joked, shivering slightly at the drastic change in temperature.

"Not normally, I've never sneaked out the house before."

This was another one of those times that Marco wished he could say he was the same, but sadly, that wasn't the case. "There's a first for everything."

Leo just chuckled, looking down at his shoes.

"If I'm honest I really don't want to go home."

Marco wrapped his arms round Leo. "Stay at mine, I'm sure you can't get in much more trouble."

The pair was interrupted with Leo's phone ringing; it was Justin again. Leo had to think for a bit before answering, but he had a plan.

"Hello…"

"…Where the hell, are you?" Justin questioned angrily.

"I went out." Leo responded, obviously annoying his brother even more with the vague comment.

"Leo, tell me or I tell Dad."

"I went to a gig; I'm on my way back, just cover for me. How many times have you said you owe me?"

"Depends, do you know when you'll be back?

Leo sighed and looked over to Marco, who just shrugged, leaving the decision up to him.

"Probably tomorrow morning, I just need to be out the house."

"I'll try. No promises though." Justin sighed.

"Fine by me, see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, bye." Justin said, putting the phone down.

Leo felt strange putting trust into Justin, but he knew he had to, just for tonight.

"So are we heading back to mine?" Marco asked.

"Yeah, your bad influence has really got to me."

"Good, that makes things more fun." Marco grinned.

**AN: Omg so this isn't really long either and is filler-ish, but yeah we need this chapter for next chapter anyway so yeah ^_^**

**Thanks for all the reviews, reads follows and favourites, you guys are what make me want to write more, so thank you so much, I love you all!**

**See you next chapter! Xxxx**


	21. Chapter 21

**Disclaimer: I do not own Waterloo Road or any of the characters in the story**

**Chapter 21**

Blaring music made Marco groan as he knew where the sound was coming from.

"Leo." Marco mumbled, nudging Leo's side, waking him up. "Your phone."

Leo sighed, reaching for his phone, not checking the caller ID before he answered.

"Hell…"

"Leo you are in so much trouble!" His dad yelled, making Leo cringe and move the phone away from his ear as his Dad ranted loudly. "Do you have anything to say for yourself?!"

"No, not really."

"Not really. You could at least apologise! How stupid is it that you left the house, whilst grounded, and didn't give a clue to where you where? You're hardly streetwise, you could get yourself killed."

"And that would be a massive inconvenience for you wouldn't it." Leo snarled, shocking his Dad, and Marco. "Just an extra thing on the list. You only really bother when it suits you. I've been trying to speak to you about something important all week, and you've always said it can wait. So this can wait 'til I get home."

Leo put the phone down, instantly regretting being so rude to his Dad, knowing he'd get an earful later.

"_Damn_ you got him told."

"Well he shouldn't be so ignorant." Leo shrugged. "I can only take it for so long."

"Make sure he doesn't ruin your mood too much." Marco smiled, kissing his nose. "Especially after last night."

"Yeah, it was fun." Leo agreed, with a smile creeping onto his face. "At least that'll make today less crappy."

"That's the spirit." Marco replied. "Now I'm awake I really just need some coffee, want some?"

"Would love some."

Marco made coffee while Leo tried scrubbing the UV paint off his face for going home. It would only make things worse if he went home with cat whiskers painted on his face.

"Take me back!" Marco exclaimed, slumping onto the stool with his coffee. "I have the serious post-concert blues."

"I suppose you have science homework to take your mind off it."

"I've done it. I'm good at science now, thanks to you."

"I guess there's some perks to me being grounded then." Leo joked.

The two continued to talk and laugh, whilst having their coffee before Leo knew he had to face the music and go home. Feeling as if his courage had suddenly vanished, this rebellious idea of his seemed like an extremely bad one.

* * *

><p>"Love you, see you later."<p>

"If I don't die first. Love you too."

Leo's stomach was doing flips as he got closer to home. He was not looking forward to this.

As he entered the house, he was met with the scowl of his Dad, and the apologetic look from his brother.

"Think you're clever do you?" His Dad asked. Leo just looked at the floor, ready for the onslaught. "You think it's clever what you did? You lied to us Leo, and you could've been really hurt. You don't know how dangerous it can be out there at that time of night."

"You didn't listen to a word I said on the phone." Leo spoke up, though he'd rather have kept that thought in his head. "I'm always in trouble when I do something wrong, but when I need you to be a Dad and be there you aren't. You act like I've never been out the house; I'm not going to get stabbed."

"I don't know what this new attitude of yours is, but it can stop right now." Vaughn warned.

"I don't know what you mean." Leo shrugged.

"You used to never leave your room, and now you're hardly ever in the house at all. Has Marcus Fletcher got something to do with this?"

Leo had to refrain from laughing at the use of Marco's full name, but he managed to keep a straight face. "I don't know. Maybe it has something to do with the thing I wanted to talk to you about all week, but you didn't listen."

This stopped Vaughn in his tracks; he'd completely neglected talking to his son. He remembered Leo saying he wanted to talk with him, and he pushed it aside for work.

"Leo, I… I didn't know."

"I told you plenty of times." Leo shrugged, not showing any sympathy towards his Dad's hurt. As far as Leo was concerned, he deserved everything he got.

"You can talk to me you know."

"It's fine. I'd rather sort it myself." Leo sighed, walking past his Dad and up to his room, where he shut the door and he just lay on his bed. He didn't know what to do. He wanted to tell them, but they never listened to him, but he knew he couldn't go on the way he was. Leo knew he'd have to sort it out sooner rather than later, but he couldn't ignore the burning anger he had towards his Dad and Justin being so wrapped up in their own lives, yet when Leo decided to put himself first for a change, he was nagged at and in trouble.

He couldn't find a balance, and it was killing him. He wanted it to be like the night before all the time. Not a care in the world, living life and enjoying it with the people he loved, not shut up in his room, in a household that seemed like they couldn't go a day without arguing.

* * *

><p>Marco sat at home, with his laptop in front of him, expecting a skype call from his parents any time now. He was unsure he'd tell them about Leo, but since it was the first time in weeks he'd have gotten a call, he knew mock results were always a good topic if they'd went well. He made sure to cover his tattoo, that lecture was for another day.<p>

As the call was answered, he saw his parents on the webcam, and Marco was hit with a wave of homesickness, no matter how much he denied it, he was still only 16, and a long way from home.

"Hi mum, hi Dad."

"Hello Marcus. How are things in Greenock?" His Dad asked.

"Oh, it's great! I've made a few friends and there's one called Leo who's really clever, and he's helped me out a bit with a few bits and pieces in science, I'm never going to be like Ben for that. The house is immaculate, and I've had no house parties. I feel like a different person."

"You do look a lot healthier; I'm guessing the gym's been in good use?" His mum asked.

"Yeah, I have a schedule on the fridge. I never realised how I was about organisation until I moved up here." Marco laughed looking towards the fridge.

"Great, the school seems to be serving you better than the old one."

"Yeah, we've not long finished our mocks."

"Oh and how did they go?" His mum asked curiously.

"Great! I passed everything. I even got an A* as well."

"Well done! What was you're a* in?" His Dad asked.

"It was in art." Marco replied sheepishly, dreading his parents' reactions, which they looked very surprised.

"We never knew you were an artist. I've never seen any of your work." His mum enquired.

"It's something that's blossomed since going to Waterloo Road. I've always love art, but I never really gave it much thought, since the career options aren't anything like what Ben and Jamie are doing."

"I heard my name." His brother chirped, settling in the middle of his parents. "Hi bro! I've been sent to London for work placement, how lucky is that? So I get to stay here more often."

"That's awesome Jamie." Marco laughed, feeling so homesick.

"Now where's that art of yours?" His Dad asked.

"Oh, I have my folder here, wait a sec." Marco jogged to where his art folder rested where he hunted for some coursework that his parents would find half decent, and decided on a few, including unused tattoo ideas.

"Here's a few." Marco held them up one by one, trying not to just curl up in a foetal position and never leave the house again.

"Hey, who knew my little bro was the next Andy Warhol?"

"Not quite." Marco mumbled. "I'm not that good."

"You have talent." His Dad encouraged. "You could get a great career from it; I wouldn't mind hanging some of your stuff in my offices to brighten the place up."

"I'd use it in my decorating. Getting decent artwork these days is a nightmare." His mum agreed.

"I-I'm flattered, I really am. I thought you'd not want me to do it because you're all so clever."

"We're just thankful you've found something other than drink and drugs that takes your fancy."

"Yeah, those days are gone." Marco sighed. "I don't even have a girlfriend here. I'm completely off game."

Marco enjoyed speaking with his family and his brother, and couldn't help feeling a little sad when they had to end the call. Marco knew his family was alright, he just needed to grow up a bit to see it.

* * *

><p>A knock on the door snapped Leo out of his thoughts.<p>

"Who is it?"

"It's me." A familiar voice answered. "Can I come in?"

"Yeah." Leo sighed, as his brother entered his room, sitting down on the foot of his bed.

"Is everything alright?" Justin asked, confusing Leo as to why he was so concerned about him now.

"Yeah, I'm fine." The old lie raised its ugly head, but Leo couldn't help it. It wasn't as if he could rant about his family to his own brother.

"Look, I tried to stop Dad noticing. Sorry you got caught."

"It's fine, I shouldn't have been so stupid." Leo shrugged. "It's always my bad luck. I should just stick to not leaving the house."

"I didn't think he'd freak out so much."

"He thinks I'm socially inept, that's why. He think's I'll get kidnapped by a drug lord and held for ransom or something."

"Well that would be a decent reason for not doing your homework; I might have to steal that one bro." Justin joked, happy to see a smile on his brother's face. "What's this thing you've wanted to speak to us about this week?"

"You didn't want to know."

"I did, I was side-tracked."

"Exactly, it mustn't be that important to you if you shrugged it off that easily."

"Leo, you can talk to me, I'm your brother." Justin said sincerely. Leo knew he had no option now but to tell him. He would've rather have told his Dad and Justin together, but his foul mood with his Dad made him not want to tell him even more.

"Okay." Leo sighed, "You have to promise you can't tell anyone. Not Dad, not mum, not Tiffany. This stays between me and you."

"It's _that_ bad. Me and Tiff…"

"…Justin, please. She can't know." Leo pleaded. Justin sighed and nodded in agreement, seeing how serious his brother was.

"Do you know when we were talking about people getting the 'wrong idea' about me and Marco?"

"Yeah." Justin answered, eyes focused on Leo, and what he was about to say.

"What would you say if I told you that people didn't have the wrong idea?" Leo asked, hoping he didn't have to clarify, but by the look on Justin's face, he knew that was highly unlikely.

"So, you fancy Marco?"

"Not quite." Leo sighed nervously, praying Justin wouldn't take this badly.

"Wait a minute, you and Marco? What?"

"We've been going out for a couple months now."

Justin just stared at Leo, trying to process what Leo had just told him. The longer the silence went on for, the more Leo was terrified of what Justin was going to say next.

"Justin, you don't hate me right?" This snapped Justin out of his thoughts.

"Why would I hate you? You're my brother."

"I know, but…"

"Leo, does he make you happy?" Justin asked bluntly, not letting Leo's negative thoughts take over.

"Yeah, he does."

"That's all I care about. The only difference is I can hit him if he hurts you." Justin joked. "But seriously, you're still you."

Leo felt a weight lift from his shoulders. Justin was his main concern, but he was fine with it, which meant step one was complete.

"Please don't tell anyone though Justin. I didn't really want to tell anyone until I felt like I could. You know how school is, I'll get slaughtered."

"Don't worry, your secret's safe with me. I promise."

**AN: So Justin knows ^_^ and Marco and his family are on alright terms, though what will happen next? Only I have the answers :)**

**Thanks to everyone who reads/reviews/follows/favourites. You don't know how much you guys mean to me, honestly, I love you all to the moon and back **

**^3^**

**See you next chapter! Xxxx**


	22. Chapter 22

**Disclaimer: I do not own Waterloo Road or any of the characters in the story**

**Chapter 22**

Monday morning rolled around, and Leo and his Dad were still not on the best of terms, though his Dad was intently focused on work, so it made things slightly less awkward.

Leo was thankful Justin was supportive after he'd told him about him and Marco. Although Justin was still getting his head wrapped round it all, he was happy Leo was honest with him.

"So when are you going to tell Dad?" Justin asked, making Leo go wide eyed. He'd not really thought about it since Saturday mornings argument, he wasn't sure he wanted to.

"I'm not sure." Leo replied honestly. "He's always having a go; he might not be as nice as you were."

"He won't, I'm positive." Justin reassured.

"It'll be when I'm ungrounded, so probably when I'm 18." Leo joked.

"He deserved it. He's supposed to be there for us. It's nice I'm not the one in trouble for a change."

"Yeah, it feels awful; you need to annoy him now so I can go back to blending in."

"Nope, you're the rebel now, bro." Justin shrugged. "You have the weight of that on you now."

"Thanks." He mumbled, grabbing a slice of toast.

Justin and Leo were very quickly chased out the house by their Dad, insisting they weren't late. Leo text Marco, asking if he'd done the French homework, and by the panicked reply, that answer was a no.

Reaching school, Leo made his way to the library, where he saw an overly stressed out Marco typing furiously on a computer.

"You know that has to be a presentation, right?" Leo asked, shocking Marco.

"Don't distract me, I completely forgot about writing it down. I know what I want to say but I suppose I need to hand something in."

"Yeah, but I doubt there's time to print it out now, just shove it on my memory stick, and I'll print it at lunch."

"You're a life saver." Marco sighed, quickly finishing the document and saving it to the pen drive. "It's going to be like Les Mis for my presentation."

"I'm sure." Leo agreed sarcastically.

After registration Marco was joined again in English, where something he was told in registration was annoying him.

"What's up?" Leo asked quietly.

"They want athletics to be on three times a week. I can't do that I have other stuff."

"They think people are actually going to do it?"

"Yeah, most of them are game. I'm probably just going to quit."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I mean I don't enjoy it. I might as well just stop doing it."

* * *

><p>After his first lesson of art, Marco went looking for Brandon to tell him his decision to quit the athletics team, and immediately felt tense seeing the large group surrounding him, including his ex-best friend Lizzie, who he'd not spoken to in weeks apart from the odd hello.<p>

"Hey Brandon, can I speak to you?" Marco asked, getting the other male's attention. Brandon walked away from his group and stood facing Marco.

"What's up?"

"I'm quitting the team." Marco said bluntly, obviously annoying Brandon and his very short fuse.

"You're what? Why?"

"Training is 3 times a week. I have other stuff to do that I'd rather do than that."

"It's that Fitzgerald, he's turned you into a right geek. I told you he fancies you"

"It's shit all to do with him." Leo said defensively. "I need to get the grades so I can eventually make something out of my life. I was never going to be a pro-athlete."

"I don't know what the hell has happened to you Marco, but you've changed, you're a right bore."

"Or maybe I know when things need to get serious." Marco corrected. "Bye Brandon."

Marco knew what he'd just done was social suicide, but he was going to reap the consequences later, and he knew how to deal with bullies.

Making his way from Marco, he heard someone calling his name. He turned round and saw Justin approaching him. Leo had informed him he'd let his brother know and he was fine. He hoped it was truth, and not just to make Leo feel better.

"Hey Marco, can we speak, in private."

"Um, yeah, whatever." Marco shrugged, following Justin to a secluded area/

"So, Leo told me…"

"…Yeah, I thought that was what this was about."

"Yeah, he'll hate me for doing this, but if you hurt my brother, I'll hurt you."

"Understood." Marco got that crystal clear. "Thanks Justin."

What for?" Justin asked, confused by Marco's words

"For being supportive. Leo wasn't sure if you'd take it well, and I thought you'd hate me, so I'm kind of relieved."

"Just doing what any big brother should." Justin shrugged. "Well, I'll see you around.

"Yeah." Marco nodded.

* * *

><p>Marco entered the library after art hearing loud laughter and voices, as he walked further he saw exactly what was happening.<p>

"Oi Leo, you and Marco would make a really cute couple you know. Too bad he doesn't like you." Shaznay joked.

"Maybe you could get some robot friends, since you can't make any of your own." Lisa taunted.

"It's your fault Marco quit the team. If he wasn't such a nice person he wouldn't have bothered with the likes of you. He only talks to you because he feels sorry for you." Mattie sneered.

That was enough.

"What the hell?" Marco asked walking up to them. "I thought I fucking told you, me quitting the team had shit all to do with him. Do you fucking listen or are you heads to full of air?"

"Marco…" Lizzie began.

"…Aww, Marco's protecting his boyfriend." Brandon taunted.

"No, I'm just not letting you bully my friend."

"Marco, just leave it." Leo mumbled, getting up to walk out.

"If he isn't your boyfriend, you won't mind if we do this." Brandon sniggered, pushing Leo into one of the smaller bookshelves, making him knock it over.

"God Leo, you're so clumsy." Lisa retorted.

"Just leave him alone." Marco threatened. "I've seen Chihuahuas more threatening than the likes of you."

"Whatever, let's go." Brandon ordered as nearly everyone followed. Marco went back to help Leo pick the books up.

"I'm so sorry." Marco apologised. "I didn't think they'd even say anything to you about it. Are you okay?"

"Yeah." Leo nodded, but he couldn't help it that the bullies' words had gotten to him a bit.  
>"Marco?"<p>

"Yeah, what's up?" Marco questioned Leo's worried tone.

"Is that why you started talking to me, for pity?" Leo asked, taking Marco back.

"Not for pity, I was interested; you didn't seem like a bad person, so I didn't quite understand why nobody was speaking to you. So, I wanted to get to know you, and it was the best thing I've ever done."

Marco's answer brought a smile on Leo's face, before he winced in pain from moving the wrong way.

"Do you need to see the nurse or anything?" Marco asked.

"No, I should be fine." Leo assured, placing the last of the fallen books back on the shelf. "Oh, I nearly forgot, here's your French homework."

"Thanks." Marco said, putting the sheet of paper in his bag. "Finally time for some food."

"Yeah, I'm starving." Leo agreed as they made their way to the canteen.

* * *

><p>"Le fin." Marco ended his speech dramatically, making the class giggle.<p>

"Well, you're definitely not going into comedy Mr Fletcher, but your French was spot on."

Marco knew having lessons from a younger age was a plus, but he always preferred Waterloo Road French lessons, since he was actually allowed to speak English.

"Right Leo, you're up next." Mr Windsor called from the front of the class. Leo nodded, heading up to the front, fumbling around to find his memory stick in his pocket.

"In your own time."

"I've lost my memory stick sir." Leo mumbled.

"Well if you have a copy of it, read from that." George replied. Leo nodded, and grabbed his notes and read through them, preoccupied on the whereabouts of his memory stick.

"Thank you Leo." Mr Windsor said at the end of Leo's presentation, and as the class went on, Leo's mind was set on getting it back. That thing had all his school work on it; he was hardly going to let it go.

When the final bell rang, Marco joined Leo to check the library for any sign of his memory stick, as that was where it was handed in last. Without any luck there, the two went up and asked Sonya whether anyone had handed anything into lost property, but that didn't work either. Giving up hope, Marco suggested they head home for the day, suggesting a cleaner may hand it in later.

"You'll find it once we stop looking, I'm sure of it. It happens to me all the time." Marco comforted.

"Thanks, but it was plugged in the computer, it shouldn't have gotten very far."

"I'll help you get the work typed back up if you need me to."

"Don't bother; what's worse is the pictures I took from Paramore are on there."

"Oh." Was all Marco managed to say. "That's not good."

"Nope." Leo sighed. "I mean, I'm not bothered if Brandon wants to kill _me_ but…"

"… No. If this gets out we do this together. If Brandon wants to kill you, he has to kill us both. I promise you that."

"Me too." Leo agreed. "I'm so sorry."

"This isn't your fault. For all we know some Year 7 has it and they'll hand it in tomorrow. None of this is anyone's fault, it just happens."

Leo heard his phone buzz, knowing it would be his Dad wanting him home, with him still not being on the best of terms with his Dad, he decided it was probably best he did as he was told.

"I'll see you tomorrow." Leo said, kissing Marco on the cheek. "Love you."

"Love you too. Now don't worry, it'll be fine." Marco assured as they walked their separate ways.

"_I hope it'll be fine."_

**AN: Okay I hope this isn't too filler-ish, it does have relevance, I promise! Sorry was meant to update this yesterday, but the site was down, so I couldn't update anything, sorry. **

**I love every one of you so much, the nice reviews are amazing! Thanks to all those who follow, favourite and even just read this too. I love it that people are enjoying this. I'm so thankful for you all (^3^)**

**See you all next chapter Xxx**


	23. Chapter 23

**Disclaimer: I do not own Waterloo Road or any of the characters in the story**

**Chapter 23**

The next day, Marco felt all eyes were on him as he walked into school. People whispered, and nobody really wanted to speak to him.

'_What is up with everybody?'_

Making his way to his locker, the looks didn't stop, until he felt a presence standing by him.

"Here's Leo's memory stick." Lizzie whispered, handing him the equipment. "I'm not going to lie to you Marco, the whole school knows."

"Knows what?"

"About you and Leo."

Okay now Marco knew why everyone was freaking out. Marco was fully aware how bad this was. This was catastrophic, but he knew he had to be the first to tell Leo before anyone else.

"Thanks for letting me know Lizzie. I know we haven't spoken properly in a while but I need people on my side."

"Why do you think I'm here, dummy?" She said, punching his arm. "I'll help as best I can."

"Thanks, do you know if Leo's in school yet? I want to tell him before anyone else does."

"Understood." Lizzie nodded. "I haven't seen him yet, but I'll wait with you outside for a bit if you want."

"Won't your new friends disapprove?"

"Fuck them. You where my friend before they were. I've been a shitty friend to you, so I'm making it up to you, and Tiffany, and like everyone. Mattie really isn't who I thought he was."

"So do I have my girl back?" Marco asked, as Lizzie's sorrowful look spread into a wide grin.

"Of course, now there's Leo, go!" She ordered, almost pushing him down the school steps.

"Leo, I need to talk to you, now, it's urgent." Marco said, making Leo petrified of what he was going to say next. He was hoping as much as he could this wasn't a break up speech.

"People know." This was the first thing Marco said, snapping Leo out of his thoughts.

"You what? How? How many?" Leo asked, panicked, knowing exactly what Marco was talking about.

Marco held up Leo's memory stick as his heart sunk. This wasn't good. "Lizzie snatched it from Brandon and that lot. Basically everyone in the school knows."

"Damn, I really wasn't wanting this today."

"Me neither." Marco agreed. "I don't know what to say to people, they just stare and make comments."

"For a second there I thought you were breaking up with me."

"I promised didn't I? We do this together, no matter what."

Leo nodded and just looked at the ground. "Today is going to be awful."

"Yep." Marco agreed, running a hand through his hair, hearing the bell go he turned back to Leo. "You ready for this?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

The boys made their way to their spate registration classes, Marco felt extremely uneasy by all the whispering as he made his way round school, and having double science first lesson was a drag too.

"Miss they shouldn't be allowed to sit next to each other, they're disrupting me." A student piped up as Marco took his seat.

"We've done fuck all." Marco responded, giving her a dirty look.

"Actually, just looking at you two makes me feel a bit sick, so you're disrupting my education, fag."

Marco bit his tongue, or he would've done, if Mrs Lowsley hadn't have instructed him to move.

"Why should I move? She should live in the 21st Century, nobody should be _that_ bothered."

"Just swap Marco."

"No." Marco argued. He was set firmly on proving his point.

"Fine, then go to the cooler." Mrs Lowsley responded. Marco would never forget how much she made his blood boil.

'_Stupid cow'._

As he left the room, Leo was bombarded with questions, only making him want to just crawl under a rock and never leave even more.

Also, the fact Marco wasn't handling the situation well at all was slightly worrying, and he hoped Marco wouldn't get into too much trouble.

* * *

><p>"What are you here for?" Miss Mulgrew asked as Marco walked into the empty cooler room.<p>

"He was ignoring instruction." Mrs Lowsley hissed, turning round and quickly headed back to her class leaving Marco just sitting to dwell on his thoughts.

"It's not like you to be in here Marco. You aren't one to mouth off very often." Miss Mulgrew questioned.

"She's a joke." Marco huffed. "She was making _me_ move seats because some girl was making homophobic remarks. She wanted me to move so she would up."

"You couldn't have just moved?" Miss Mulgrew questioned.

"I would've moved if the girl hadn't have been so rude. I just couldn't let someone get away with speaking to me and Leo like that. She's gotten her way. I shouldn't have lost my temper but its first lesson and people are already doing my head in."

"You said it was _homophobic _bullying." Miss Mulgrew questioned, Marco was surrounded by girls as far as her knowledge. Marco then realised the teachers would have no clue.

'_Fuck, it's going to be a long day.'_

"Yeah, we were meant to be keeping it between close family and friends, but it got out somehow, and basically the whole school knows and they're _really_ not happy about it."

"You and Leo?"

"Yeah, it's complicated." Marco lied, it was pretty simple. Even more so if one of them was female, because nobody would give a damn. He hated how alienated he felt from his classmates and it had only been one lesson. It was as if they were ashamed to be around him, like it was a bad thing.

"We could get pastoral care set up for the two of you, to deal with any bullying."

"I've got it covered." Marco lied, again. Miss Mulgrew just nodded, excusing herself to go and speak to Vaughn. Even if Marco didn't want any, she thought a support system should be put in place for the teens.

* * *

><p>Reaching Vaughn's office, Christine knocked, entering when Vaughn called her in.<p>

"Christine, what can I do for you?"

"You aren't too busy are you?" Christine asked

"No, why?"

"I think we need to talk with Marco and Leo, since the students have found out about them going out."

Christine assumed Vaughn knew, but by the wide eyed look on his face, she was wrong to assume.

"You what?"

"I thought Leo would've told you."

Vaughn sighed, getting out of his chair.

"Where are you going?"

"To talk to my son. "

Christine made her way back to the cooler, while Vaughn asked Sonya to get Leo from his class.

* * *

><p>Leo was snapped out of his focus when there was a knock at the door and it opened to see the cheery secretary standing at the door.<p>

"Hi Mrs Lowsley, Mr Fitzgerald needs to speak to Leo. He says it's urgent."

Leo collected his bag and heard a collection of "ooooh"'s from the class as he made his way to his Dad's office, entering to see a stern look on his Dad's face.

"Sit down Leo."

Leo nodded and sat in the chair facing his Dad at his desk.

"So what's this I've been hearing about you and Marcus Fletcher?"

Leo's heart was pounding. Terrified didn't come close to what he felt right now.

"Um… well… we." Leo fumbled over his words before taking a deep breath "I-it's true." He finally managed to say shakily, looking into his Dad's eyes. Did he look disappointed?

"So you and Marcus are official."

"Y-yeah." Leo responded nervously, the same look not wiping from his Dad's face. "I'm sorry; I meant to tell you, but you were always too busy, and then somehow everyone else found out so you had to hear it from someone else."

"Leo it's your GCSE year, is this really the best time for you to be making statements?"

"Statements?" Leo questioned, wiping tears away from his eyes. That stung, a lot. "It's not like that at all."

"Is it not? Then how come you were afraid to tell me?"

"Because I _knew_ you'd react like this. Why can't you just accept that I'm happy?"

"You know people will say things. For all you know it could just be a phase. I know me and Justin don't speak to you enough at home…"

"…A _phase_? I don't sneak out the house and spend the night multiple times for a phase." Leo didn't really want to admit that in front of his Dad, but he couldn't drill it into his head that he was serious about Marco. He didn't quite expect his Dad to react the way he did.

"You did what?" His Dad snapped, making Leo cringe at his harsh words "So all those study sessions, and sleepovers were just you…"

"…Just me not being able to find other excuses as to why I want to go and see my boyfriend. Dad, I've never felt the same way about someone I my life, I don't know if I ever will."

"Your mum isn't going to be happy…"

"_Don't_ bring mum into this." Leo said sharply, shocking himself as well as his Dad with the venom laced in his voice. "I'm done; I don't know what else to say." Leo sighed sounding defeated, walked out of his Dad's office.

He thought the students would be the biggest problem, not his own Dad.

* * *

><p>The day for the two progressively got worse, with insults being hurled at them constantly, as well as other things being thrown. It was as if they'd committed a crime. Brandon and his gang were main instigators, announcing it in the dinner hall, and sending everyone the pictures of Leo and Marco at the concert.<p>

So the fact they had PE for their last lesson of the day was just the icing on top of the cake.

"Today we're going to put some skills into practise and play some volleyball." Mr Reid said after the warm up. Of course, Brandon ended up on the same team as Marco, which he knew wasn't going to end well.

The first few rounds went okay, Marco just brushing off the insults Brandon hurled, agitating the sporty male even more.

Brandon then went to serve the ball, and specifically aimed it at the back of Marco's head, and that was where it hit. Marco glared at the laughing male, and was wondering how his patience had stretched this far, but Leo could see how annoyed he was, and was worried how close he was to snapping.

The same thing happened two more times, and Marco could barely contain his rage, until he was pushed to breaking point when Brandon did it again, but he hit it a lot harder.

"What the fuck is your problem?" Marco snapped angrily.

"You, you little faggot. Why don't you just go off with your boyfriend? You're making me feel sick. A concussion might knock it out of you."

"You're a fucking nutter."

"At least I'm not diseased, wouldn't want to touch you in case I got fag disease. Leo's such a fucking mess; I'm surprised you haven't died…"

Brandon was stopped as Marco punched the male as hard as he could on his nose, sending the male to the floor, as everyone stared at Marco in shock, as Brandon held his bleeding nose.

"Mattie, take Brandon to the nurse." Mr Reid instructed, and then turned to Marco. "You, with me now."

Marco sighed following Mr Reid to the headmaster's office, and after what Leo had told him what had happened this morning, he wasn't looking forward to this, at all.

"Ah, Mr Reid… and Marcus."

"Marco." He corrected under his breath.

"He's just punched Brandon Henning in the face. He's at the nurse now."

"Thanks Mr Reid, I'll take it from here." Vaughn replied, leaving Mr Reid to go back to class, and Marco's panic level to increase. He was in so much trouble.

"So what do you have to say for yourself?" Mr Fitzgerald asked sternly.

"This school's zero tolerance on bullying is a piece of shit." Marco shrugged, still shaking with anger.

"Did you tell anyone?"

"I thought it was pretty obvious. Hitting someone on the head with a volley ball four times isn't an accident."

"So you decided to punch him."

"He wound me up."

"About you and Leo?" Vaughn asked, though it sounded more like a statement. Marco just nodded in response, and seeing the man sigh made him extremely nervous. He just wanted to leave there and then.

"You know it takes people time to get used to things. Most of these kids haven't had an upbringing where they've been taught on equality…"

"…So that's an excuse for Brandon basically wanting me dead."

"Brandon isn't a bad kid…"

"…He's a monster." Marco retorted, receiving a sharp look from the headmaster. He really needed to learn to just nod along when it was necessary.

"Well the school also has a zero tolerance on violence. So I'm suspending you for three days. I'll also call your parents."

"No, sir, you can't do that." Marco panicked. "They'll ship me to Cloverfields quicker than you can imagine."

"That isn't a school matter."

Marco just narrowed his eyes. This _was_ a joke. People got less for worse, but of course he wasn't going to be Mr Fitzgerald's favourite person right now.

"Whatever, can I go get my stuff now?"

"Get your stuff then get off the premises."

Marco wandered back to the changing rooms, where he grabbed his bag from the empty changing room, and made his way home, hoping to get in contact with his parents before Mr Fitzgerald did.

* * *

><p>Leo finished PE, and was shocked to see all of Marco's stuff gone, and as he made his way to the entrance, he didn't see any sign of the redhead anywhere, only making his fears of the monumental trouble Marco got in even more.<p>

He was going to walk home, at least have some space to himself before going home, but as we walked down the steps and past his car he heard a voice call his name.

"Leo, get in the car. You aren't walking home."

**AN: That could've went better :(**

**Thanks for all the reviews favourites, follows and readers. I love all of you guys sooo much. You're amazing!**

**See you next chapter! Xxxx**


	24. Chapter 24

**Disclaimer: I do not own Waterloo Road or any of the characters in the story**

**Chapter 24**

"_Leo, get in the car. You aren't walking home."_

The car journey was silent; Justin sensed a tense atmosphere between Leo and their dad. He knew today wasn't the easiest for Leo, but he had no clue as to why his Dad was in such a foul mood.

In a way though, it was nice that it wasn't him who was the cause for his Dad's bad mood for once, even if he felt bad for Leo.

Entering the house, Leo was going to just head out of his Dad's way, but was called over by him before he could make his way up the stairs.

"Come on Leo; speak to me."

"I've got homework to do." Leo shrugged. "I have nothing to say to you."

"You know I'm speaking sense."

"Dad, I really needed you to be on my side, you can't even do that."

"What's going on?" Justin asked.

"Justin, just stay out of this please." His Dad sighed. "Leo's just not using his brain."

"How? Nothing I'm doing is wrong."

"But it's irresponsible."

"I'm 16; I shouldn't have to be the responsible one out of the three of us." Leo responded, only confusing his brother even more.

"It doesn't mean you can drop everything and go life discovering."

"Actually, that's what teenagers do."

"Don't get smart-mouthed with me." His Dad warned. "You've been like this lately. It's him isn't it?"

"What? No. Don't even think that you not liking this is his fault. You think he's just some mediocre rich kid with a foul mouth and an attitude to match. Wouldn't have been a problem if he hadn't have spoken to me, right?"

"No, not at all…"

"…Yeah right." Leo shook his head in disbelief. "Dad, this is one of the scariest things that have ever happened to me, and I thought you'd support me in my choices. Marco loves me and I love him, I don't know why it's such a big issue."

"Leo _think_, you're only doing this for the shock factor, I get it now, we haven't spent enough time with you, but I don't get why you'd want to put your relationship with him over your relationship with your family."

"I'm not. Family's always going to be important, but I'm the happiest I've been in years, and that's mainly all down to Marco. I'm allowed to put my own happiness first, and it's been too long since I've done it, always having to be in the middle while you have a go at Justin and his relationship, and any time I try to speak to you, you're too busy, or it's not a good time. I love my family, but sometimes I _really_ wonder if you guys ever give a damn about anyone but yourselves."

"And you think that makes you sneaking around behind our backs okay? We have a problem here Leo, and I'm trying to fix it."

"You are the problem. You aren't listening to me."

"Well because you and Marco are at a bad time to be starting a relationship."

"…_Oh my God!"_ Leo exclaimed, sighing in exasperation. ". I'm not leaving Marco just because of you being…"

"Being what?" His Dad questioned, making Leo re-think, calm down, and chose his words carefully.

"A bad parent." Leo responded, shocking his Dad and Justin. "I'll make my own food tonight. I'll eat alone."

Making his way upstairs, Leo shut himself in his room. He needed to be alone.

'_This house is killing me.'_

* * *

><p>After countless efforts, Marco was really panicking about his parents. He <em>needed<em> to speak to them, and he prayed that the school hadn't got there first. Making this his final attempt, he pressed call and prayed for an answer.

To his surprise, his laptop opened the image of his mum and dad sitting together. They said hello, both looking very pleased to see him, which is why it was breaking Marco's heart to have to tell them the news.

"Mum, Dad. I have something to talk about with you."

The two nodded. "Sounds serious." His Dad joked.

"Yeah. I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but I've been excluded from school."

"You what?!" His mother exclaimed.

"You knew the rules Marco; you knew you'd be off to Cloverfields if you messed this up."

"No! Mum, Dad, please. Listen to me." Marco begged. "I really didn't mean to do what I did. This kid, he wound me up, he's a psycho; I'm surprised he hasn't killed me."

"Marco." His mum responded, sounding disappointed. "We'll talk to you later, but Cloverfields is what's probably going to happen."

"But... but…" Marco stammered.

"Goodbye, Marco." His Dad waved, before the screen went blank.

"I've fucked up, so bad." Marco sighed running his hands through his hair.

* * *

><p>Leo sat in his room and hoped Marco was having a better time than he was, having made himself something to eat and disappeared into his room again, it just made him uncomfortable to be around his Dad, especially since he knew how he felt about it.<p>

Seeing his phone ring, and knowing exactly who it was, he picked up.

"Hey, I was just seeing if you were okay, after today and everything."

"Not really. My Dad basically hates me now and he's trying to convince me it's just a phase."

"What a loving father." Marco retorted sarcastically.

"Yeah, he's a tool." Leo sighed. "How about you? You've not exactly had the best day either."

"Yeah, your Dad excluded me for three days for busting Brandon's nose, and my parents know and they're probably enrolling me into Cloverfields as we speak."

"You're joking?"

"I wish I was." Marco was emotionally drained from the day, and he felt nothing could even bother him at this point anymore.

"This is just a mess." Leo grumbled.

"Yeah, it couldn't have gone much worse."

"If it makes you feel any better, it was a great punch."

"Thanks." Marco chuckled. "I've wanted to do that for ages."

"You and me both." Leo sighed. "I hope he got something for what he did."

"By the way your Dad spoke of him, it's unlikely. He thought I was talking a load of bullshit when I said he was being a dick."

"It's probably because Bandon will get the school good publicity, from a council estate, parents don't work, but captains sports teams and want to be a professional athlete. Makes the school look good."

"Except they forget to mention he's a bully who is probably failing everything but PE."

"I don't know if I want to go to school tomorrow if he's there."

"Your Dad would freak out though."

"If I'm honest, I couldn't give a damn what my Dad thinks about anything anymore."

There was a knock at Leo's door and he rolled his eyes, excusing himself from the phone for a minute, opening the door to see his brother.

"What?"

"I just wanted to see if you were okay."

Leo just nodded, going back to his phone.

"I need to go, I'll call you back. Let me know if your parents change their minds over boarding school."

I will. Love you."

"Love you too" Leo responded, and when the phone line went dead, he turned and saw the smile on his brother's face. He wished his Dad was as accepting.

"So today went well." Justin joked, but sensed his brother wasn't really in the mood for it. "I'm sorry mate. I didn't know Dad was going to be like that."

"Me neither." Leo slumped onto his bed. "I knew it wasn't going to be easy, but I just didn't think it would get like this."

"I heard Marco broke Brandon's nose. The bruising was already coming out on his face when I saw him going out the gates."

"Yeah, and I heard that's all Brandon got." Leo said sorrowfully. "I really don't want to go tomorrow if he's there. At least Marco can kind of put up a fight, he's going to kill me."

"Let me guess, Dad doesn't believe you."

Leo just shook his head, making Justin sigh angrily.

"I don't know who he thinks he is giving us grief when he has scum like Brandon still in the school." Leo could sense Justin's anger.

"Don't bother Justin. I know where he stands on the matter. He isn't going to change my mind, so I'm fine."

"You've changed your tune."

"I've had to. Why bother wasting my breath if he's going to be ignorant? If he wants to be like that then he can, but it's not great feeling so uncomfortable in your own home."

"He'll come round, he's just shocked."

"I'll just keep telling myself that." Leo mumbled.

* * *

><p>Marco was awoken from his doze to the sound of his phone buzzing. He immediately froze when he saw it was Brandon.<p>

"Meet me Friday lunch time round the back of the chippy." The message read.

Marco declined the offer; he wasn't stupid; he knew Brandon wanted payback.

"If you don't go, we'll just drag Leo along, and it'll be twice as bad."

Marco hated blackmail. On one hand, he really didn't want to give Brandon the satisfaction of accepting, but on the other hand, he knew Leo didn't stand a chance against Brandon, he'd kill him.

Sighing, fuming with how this had all turned out, Marco knew what he had to do.

"Fine. I'll meet you there."

**AN: It doesn't seem to be going well D:**

**Favourites/follows/Reviews/reads – I love all of you! Nearly as much as I love oreos.**

**See you next chapter! xxx**


	25. Chapter 25

**Disclaimer: I do not own Waterloo Road or any of the characters in the story**

**Chapter 25**

Leo sat alone in the library at lunch, feeling just as uncomfortable as he did at home. People were looking at him as if he had two heads and he hated it.

So he was relieved when his phone rang and he managed to step outside.

"Hey, how's your first day off." Leo joked, but by the silence on the other end of the line, Marco really wasn't in the mood.

"Shit. Leo, I have something to tell you, promise you won't flip out." Marco replied solemnly, making Leo panic, this couldn't be good.

"What's up?"

"Brandon's asked to meet me on Friday, and I said yes."

"What the hell? Are you stupid?" Leo asked.

"It's complicated. He said if I don't go he'd drag you there instead and in his words make it twice as bad. I couldn't let him do that to you."

"I'm more than capable of handling this, you should've thought about it."

"Leo, Brandon would've hurt you, I'm the one he asked to meet. I shouldn't let him hurt you."

"And what about you? You got lucky catching him off guard; it doesn't mean you're Rocky. You need to think Marco."

"I am. I can handle him." Marco insisted. "I'll call you if things go wrong so you can help sort it."

"I'm still certain this is a bad idea Marco."

"It's a terrible idea, but we have those two options, and I can take a beating."

"What about staying out of trouble, boarding school, your parents…"

"…They'll not find out. It's no biggie." Marco lied. He was terrified.

"If you're not going to change your mind, at least make sure you're alright, and call me if you need me."

"Don't worry, Brandon won't know what hit him.

* * *

><p>Leo had pushed his thoughts to the back of his mind as best he could until Friday rolled around, and he had a gut feeling this wasn't going to go well.<p>

He'd had the slight distraction of being told his Mum had improved and visitors were more than welcome, and the family were going to see her on Sunday.

Marco on the other hand, hated his idea more and more as the time grew closer to Friday. He'd found it difficult to bring himself to go, but he didn't want to know what they'd do to Leo if he didn't.

"Pull yourself together Marco. You can do this." He said to himself in the mirror, mentally preparing himself for what was to come.

* * *

><p>"Leo." Miss Mulgrew snapped Leo out of his thoughts as he was sat just staring into space. Cover lessons were boring in the first place, so it was pretty easy for anyone to get distracted.<p>

"I suppose you've done all your work then?" She asked.

"Sorry miss." Leo mumbled, looking down at the work in front of him, knowing it was only one lesson until lunch time. As much as he'd tried to convince Marco he was being an idiot, he knew how stubborn Marco could be, and it was definitely coming through.

The bell rang for lunch, and Leo's eyes widened as Brandon left the school grounds with a large group of boys. Marco was in trouble.

He tried calling him but his phone was off, so he sent him a rushed text. He had no clue what to do. If he stayed and Marco got in trouble, he'd never forgive himself, but if he went along and got caught, they'd both be in bother with nobody to save the day.

Either way, Leo was really worried.

* * *

><p>Marco waited with his back rested against the wall, and as he checked his phone for the time, he noticed a missed call and text from Leo, telling him Brandon had brought company.<p>

'_Oh fuck.'_ Marco panicked, he left his phone unlocked so he could easily just call Leo.

It didn't take long for Brandon and his mates to rock up, all with similar smug looks on their face.

"I'm surprised you showed up, faggot."

"Nice eye shadow Brandon, but black and blue aren't really your colours." Marco sneered, smirking at Brandon's bruised face. He commended himself for it mentally.

"Get him." He ordered, and they attacked and grabbed Marco, pinning him to the floor as others kicked and punched him. Marco managed to land a punch or two but he was obviously powerless against the larger group.

Brandon took a back seat, watching his friends fight for him. Marco wanted to run over and smash his face into the floor. He couldn't take much more.

Managing to writher out of the boy's grasp, Marco stood to his feet and staggered backwards. His face was scraped and bruised, his nose was bleeding and he was sure his ankle was damaged.

"What the fuck?" He finally managed to say. "If you're going to fucking fight me Brandon, fight me properly."

Brandon just laughed and reached into his pocket. Marco's eyes darted around the group, as they all began cheering Brandon on. As Brandon pulled his hand from his pocket, Marco caught the glint of something shiny. Something sharp. Marco's eyes widened, as he knew exactly what was in Brandon's hand.

A knife.

A knife that could quite easily kill him on the spot.

Marco reached into his pocket and pressed the call button, hoping Leo would be able to hear him.

Leo's nerves felt like ten tonne weights as he saw his phone ringing. He answered it as he would usually, and although it sounded muffled, he could hear the conversation Marco was having.

He knew there were two possibilities.

Number one: He'd just called him by accident, and he had no reason to panic.

Number two: He couldn't speak to him because something really bad was happening, but he needed him to get help.

"Whoa, Brandon, take it easy man." Marco laughed nervously. His heart felt like it couldn't beat any faster. Terror consumed his entire being, with his gaze fixated on the knife.

"We _don't_ want the likes of you round here. And it's best to let any other freaks know what happens round here."

"No, you don't need to do this Brandon."

Contradicting what Brandon had said, his group were cheering him on, wanting him to do it, and by the look on Brandon's face, he was loyal to his mates.

'_Leo, hurry up!'_ Marco thought.

* * *

><p>Leo hurried down to sea front unsure whether that was where he'd be. He just had to get there before anything bad happened.<p>

* * *

><p>"Go on Brandon!" The boys cheered as the boy ran and grabbed a hold of Marco, as the latter struggled in his grip.<p>

The boy lifter the knife and sliced quickly across Marco's cheek, making him wince in pain. As he was distracted, Marco felt a sharp pain in his abdomen, as Brandon just sprinted away.  
>Feeling as if he was unable to move, Marco settled himself on the ground, as he felt lightheaded and as if everything was taking so much effort. To keep his eyes open, to stop the pain, to breathe.<p>

* * *

><p>Leo saw the boys sprinting away and feared the worse. He hurried round the back of the chip shop and had to double take. There he saw a beaten up Marco with a stab wound on his stomach.<p>

Rushing over and calling an ambulance, Leo was trying his best to talk to the phone operator whilst attempting to keep Marco conscious. When he could finally put the phone down, he could feel himself shaking. He shouldn't have let him do this.

"Stay with me Marco, please." Leo pleaded with tears streaming down his face. "Come on Marco, you can hear me."

Marco was slipping in and out of consciousness and could hear someone speaking to him, but he didn't know who or what they were saying.

As the ambulance arrived and Marco was whisked away in an ambulance, Leo was left standing the street. He was overwhelmed with emotion, as he tried to process exactly what had happened.

If only he'd made sure Marco didn't go.

He should've gotten there sooner.

He couldn't help but blame himself for what had just happened.

**AN:Is this too dramatic, idek it's waterloo road, not much is too dramatic - sorry it's late, no excuses, I'm just forgetful.**

**Thanks for all the reviews/reads/favourites and follows, I love you all!**

**See you next chapter! Xxxx**


	26. Chapter 26

**Disclaimer: I do not own Waterloo Road or any of the characters in the story**

**Chapter 26**

Leo made his way to the hospital and after a bit of asking around, managed to find the ICU. When there, Leo was informed that Marco had lost a lot of blood, and they were waiting for confirmation from his parents before going into surgery.

It was making Leo feel sick. This was insane. A small part of him wanted to smack Marco for being such an idiot and going in the first place, but a larger part of him was worried senseless, and wondered what treatment he would've got if Marco hadn't have showed up.

Leo noticed his phone ringing; he looked at his phone and saw it was his Dad. He quickly headed outside, answering the call as the cold air hit him.

"Hello." He answered shakily.

"Leo, where the hell are you? You can't just go disappearing at lunch without telling anyone."

"I'm sorry." Leo mumbled, chocking back his tears. "I'll be back to school ASAP."

"When you do, go straight to class. After school, I think we need a chat."

The sternness in his father's voice made Leo cringe. He wanted to stay at the hospital, but he knew he'd only make himself worse sitting around while Marco couldn't have visitors.

When he got back to school, Leo made his way to English, distracted by wondering if he was doing the right thing by coming back to school, rather than staying with Marco.

He felt all eyes fall on him as he entered the lesson, as it had just started, he hadn't missed much.

"Better late than never Leo."

"Sorry miss." Leo mumbled taking his seat. The unnerving sight of the empty chair next to his was really nagging at him.

Leo sat staring into space as Miss Mulgrew continued speaking to the class. His thoughts were firmly fixed on whether by the time the day was over, Marco was still alive.

"Leo!" Miss Mulgrew snapped, bringing Leo back into reality. "What did I just ask you?"

"I don't know miss." Leo answered embarrassedly.

Miss Mulgrew could see something was off when Leo wasn't paying attention. He was usually quiet, but when asked, he always knew the answers.

"Well maybe you should pay more attention, rather than just staring out the window."

The class giggled as Leo tried to focus on the poetry they were studying, but it was all gruesome, with imagery of death, and misery. Luck _really_ wasn't on his side.

The poetry was making him this more and more negatively about Marco. That he wouldn't pull through, it would be his fault, he didn't get to say goodbye.

Resting his head in his hands, Leo was still numbed by what had happened, with him trying to convince himself that this was all a terrible nightmare, but he knew that was pretty cliché, and never true.

He managed to get through English, or so he thought, as Miss Mulgrew called him to stay behind for a moment.

"Are you okay, Leo? It's not like you to not pay attention in class."

Leo just shrugged, gaze firmly fixed on the floor. "I'm fine."

"Well, whatever it is that's bothering you, just try and not let it affect your school work."

Leo nodded, faking a smile to his teacher before heading out and to his Dad's office.

'_This is going to be great.' _

* * *

><p>"Mr Fitzgerald, Leo's outside for you."<p>

"Send him in." Vaughn sighed, prepared for yet another talk with his youngest son, and he thought Justin was meant to be the one causing trouble.

As Leo walked in, his Dad was looking at the papers at his desk, and it seemed like he was talking at him, not to him.

"Leo, what's up?"

Leo just shook his head slumping in his seat. The numbness from before had faded pretty quick, and he felt as if he'd had all his emotion thrown at him at once. He felt like he could barely formulate a word, never mind a sentence, without breaking down. Especially the sentence he needed to say.

"Leo, you can speak to me. You can tell me what's wrong."

"It's Marco." He managed to force out.

Marco, what's he done to you?" His Dad asked. Usually, Leo would be offended by him jumping to conclusions about it, but he was really not in the mood for arguing.

He just shook his head. "He's done nothing." It was taking all of Leo's might to not let his emotions get the better of him, but they were hitting him like bricks. By the way his Dad just looked at him; he assumed he wanted him to speak more.

"I told him meeting up with Brandon was a stupid idea." He sniffled. "I know he did it so nothing would happen to me, but I wished he'd known it wasn't going to end well. He doesn't think about it." Leo knew he was avoiding the sentence he really needed to say, but he couldn't bring himself to say it.

"Leo, I have no idea what you're going on about."

"He got stabbed. He's in the ICU. They were waiting for his parents to consent before he went into surgery the last time I checked." Leo explained, wiping away any tears, trying not cry.

Vaughn didn't know what to say. Leo was obviously distraught, and for something to happen was obviously bad for the school, as a dangerous person could potentially be roaming the halls.

He never quite knew how much Leo cared for the boy, and his reaction made it crystal clear.

"It's up to, but do you want to come home, or go up the hospital?" Vaughn replied, shocking Leo with his response.

"Really? I can go?"

"Of course, as long as you feel like you can."

Leo hugged his Dad tightly. "Thank you, so much." He replied, knowing his efforts trying not the cry seemed to be in vain. He gave his Dad a nod farewell as he made his way to the hospital as quickly as possible.

* * *

><p>Finally reaching the ICU, Leo grabbed himself a hot chocolate, which was tasteless and not really enjoyable, but he couldn't help but need a warm drink to sooth his nerves.<p>

Reaching the room Marco was in, looking in, Marco didn't even look like himself. He was hooked up to countless different wires and machines with a steady beeping and wheezing of machines being the only thing stopping the room from being dead silent. The only spaces to sit were a couple of uncomfortable, lumpy, green hospital chairs.

Leo was delighted to hear that Marco's parents rang shortly after he'd left, so he didn't wait too long before going into surgery, but apparently the internal bleeding was quite bad, and he'd lost a lot of blood.

"There's never a dull moment when you're around, eh Marco." Leo spoke quietly, not holding back his tears any longer. "You know, this was the last place either of us really wanted to be, but we've never really been lucky, have we?"

Leo didn't know why he was talking, as he knew Marco couldn't hear him, but he held on to the tiny glimmer of hope that somehow, Marco could hear what he was saying. His hand was placed on top of Marco's limp hand resting on the side of the bed. Yet, he continued to talk to Marco, finding it sort of comforting to just talk, even if Marco couldn't hear him, it didn't really matter to him.

"I want you to know, no matter how long it takes, I'll be with you. We promised we would, didn't we? Even if we never thought it would happen. It never crossed our minds." Leo yawned, trying his best to stay awake. The day had been draining for him, so he was exhausted, so trying to stay awake was a fruitless effort, with fatigue catching up Leo with ease.

* * *

><p>Leo woke up to the sound of the door opening, and he groggily looked around, remembering where he was, and saw his hand still on top of Marco's. The cause of his awakening was a nurse walking into the room.<p>

"Mr Fitzgerald, your Dad's in the waiting room for you. You should probably get some proper rest, not on one of those, trust me; you're back will be aching for weeks."

Leo nodded, as he went to stand up, he knew what the nurse meant, as his back was aching from the lumpy, green seat. He gave Marco's hand a gentle squeeze, before he got up, giving one last look before he went into the waiting room to meet his Dad.

"How is he?"

"He's had surgery, but he had quite bad internal bleeding and he lost a lot of blood, so he's still unconscious, but I have my fingers crossed he'll be fine."

Vaughn pulled his son into a hug.

"You're being very mature about this Leo, I'm proud of you."

Leo was so happy to hear those words finally leave his Dad's mouth. It shouldn't have taken Marco being stabbed for him to do so, but Leo couldn't care right now.

'_I just hope he wakes up.'_

**AN: Omg this took too long to write, I'm sorry, it was difficult getting the tone right for it, but I think I'm happy with it?**

**Thanks for all the reviews, follows, favourites and reads, you guys are more awesome than an abominable snowman, especially because I have over 100 reviews! That's insane guys, tysm :D**

**See you next chapter! Xxxx**


	27. Chapter 27

**Disclaimer: I do not own Waterloo Road or any of the characters in the story**

**Chapter 27**

The next day, there was no change in Marco's condition. Leo was drained, and he was pretty fed up of those hospital chairs, but all he wanted was for Marco to wake up.

Something to take his mind off things was going to see him mum, after they were now accepting visitors for her. It was definitely something to lift Leo's spirits and it was better than moping around all day. Both he and Justin were equally as happy to see their mum after so long. The place she was wasn't very hospital-like, much to Leo's happiness, and he, his brother, his mum and his Dad sat on two sofas facing each other in one of the rooms.

"It's lovely to see you all. You look well."

"You too." Justin smiled. "You look loads better."

Olga just smiled at her sons comment. The family began chatting, and laughing about past events they had as a family, until Olga changed the subject.

"So, how's school, everything alright?"

"Yeah, it's just pretty normal for me at the minute." Justin replied.

"Yeah me too." Leo said, receiving strange looks from his Dad and brother.

"Have you still got that girlfriend of yours Justin?"

Justin smiled at the mention of Tiffany. "Yeah, she's still around."

"I'll have to meet her when I'm better." Olga smiled. "What about you Leo? Any girls taking your fancy?"

"Well… actually…" Leo began, as a grin crept upon Olga's face.

"My little boy's finally got a girlfriend." She laughed, making Leo turn bright red. "What's her name? What is she like?"

"Actually mum, _she_ is actually a 'he', and he's called Marco, he moved for school from Chelsea." Leo replied nervously, watching his mum's face to determine her reaction. His mum looked shocked, kind of confused, but nothing too horrendous, or so he hoped.

Olga gave Leo a warm smile. "Is he nice?"

"Yeah, we're quite different, but he's great." Leo breathed a sigh of relief after his mother's calm reaction.

"That's great." Olga replied. "You're brave; it's not going to be easy."

"I'm learning that the hard way." Leo sighed.

"Well, you know I love you, no matter who you're going out with." Olga reassured, placing a hand on Leo's shoulder.

"Thanks mum." Leo smiled; feeling at ease with his family was a big step forward.

Leo enjoyed spending time with his whole family, and it really took his mind off things. He loved how things were as close as they used to be as they'd probably get, and how they still talked and laughed, especially his mum. She was looking so much better than the last time they'd seen each other, and he was hoping she'd leave the clinic soon, and everything would start to settle.

His life may be chaotic, but he was overjoyed that some normality was starting to return to his life, as small as it was.

They were all quite sad to leave, but they'd made plans to visit every weekend, until Olga left the clinic. After saying their goodbyes, Leo, Justin and Vaughn all got in the car to head home. All were discussing how nice it was that Olga was doing so well, until Vaughn changed the subject.

"Are you wanting to just come straight home, or do you want dropped off at the hospital?" Vaughn asked. Leo was unsure, on one hand, he'd hate to be away if there was any change, but on the other hand, he'd hate to spoil his great day by the changes being bad, or there being no change at all.

"I'll go for a little bit, I shouldn't be ages though." Leo finally decided.

His Dad and Justin dropped Leo off at the hospital before heading home, and Leo took the same route to the same ward, to the same room.

However, when he reached the room, it wasn't the same. There were four people sitting in the room. He went to leave, but he caught the eye of the older male in the room, who walked over to the door, smiling solemnly.

"You must be Leo?" He asked, making Leo stop in his tracks and turn around. He assumed he was Marco's Dad. "I'm Marco's Dad; he's told us all about you."

Leo couldn't help smiling at the comment; Marco always insisted he didn't talk about him too much to his family. "Yeah, I'm Leo." He replied shyly. "If you need me to go…"

"No, no. We've all wanted to meet you since Marco told us. He's always been a bit of a womanizer, so we knew you had to be pretty special."

Leo tried to brush off the compliment, and looked at the floor, as he entered the room, where he noticed Marco was hooked up to considerably less machines, with pegs in his nose, rather than a mask over his face.

"He's breathing without support, now." One of Marco's brothers explained, seeing Leo staring at Marco. "The doctors said it might be a few days before he wakes up, but he definitely will."

Leo couldn't be happier with the news. He was delighted knowing he was going to be alright.

"I'm Jamie; by the way, the one over there is Ben." The oldest introduced himself and his brother.

Leo just smiled at them, feeling as if he was intruding on the family.

"The nurse said you've visited every day?" Marco's mum asked.

"Yeah, I wanted to make sure he was okay."

Marco's family thanked him for being there for Marco, and Leo was surprised at how down to earth they all were, even if they were a well off family.

* * *

><p>The day's events had left Leo with a lot more of a positive outlook on the future, with Marco's family being there for him, his mum being well, and the day going by argument free was great.<p>

Reflecting on his day was interrupted by a knock at his door. He opened it to see his Dad.

"Hi, is everything alright?" Leo asked.

"Yeah, I've just come to talk." His Dad said. Leo nodded as the two sat on the edge of Leo's bed.

"First off, I need to apologise to you, Leo." His dad began "You're obviously serious about you and Marco, and I didn't believe you."

"It's fine. I knew things weren't going to be smooth."

"I'm your Dad and I' going to support your decisions." His Dad insisted. "I also have to tell you the police will be collecting a statement from you in the next few days. They want to find who did this, and they need as much evidence as possible so they can get this person arrested."

"Okay, that's fine." Leo agreed, thankful it was a police matter; he knew exactly who'd done it.

"And, I was going to talk to you about tomorrow. You don't have to go in if you don't feel like you can."

"I need to go in. I've got a science test." Leo shrugged. "I'll just have my phone on."

"Are you sure? We're having an assembly tomorrow, and Marco is going to be mentioned, if you don't want to be there…"

"…No, I'll be there. He's going to be alright, I can deal with whatever people have to say."

"You shouldn't have to."

"I know, but I'm going to get an earful wherever I go, it's best to just ignore it."

"You know to come to me if there's any trouble."

"Thanks Dad, but I think I can handle it."

His Dad understood where Leo was coming from, and although this wasn't something he had to go through alone, it was something Leo wanted to have some independence about.

When his Dad left the room, Leo was left to think whether he'd made the right decision. He chuckled slightly, thinking about how Marco wouldn't understand why he'd ever pass up a free day off school. As much as he was used to saying he was fine when he wasn't, this felt different. Leo knew if he stayed off school tomorrow, he'd not want to go back, and then it would just get more and more difficult to go back. The quicker he got it over with the better.

Leo sighed.

'_Mondays always ruin a good weekend.'_

**AN: Thanks for all the reviews/reads/ favourites and follows, I love you all more than I love cereal at tea time.**

**See you next chapter! Xxxx**


	28. Chapter 28

**Disclaimer: I do not own Waterloo Road or any of the characters in the story**

**Chapter 28**

Leo was awoken to the obnoxious sound of his alarm, mumbling to himself how much he hated Mondays, as he got himself ready for school.

"You're going in?" Justin asked, seeing his brother in the kitchen.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I?" Leo shrugged getting his breakfast.

"Well, in case anything happens, you know, since what happened with Marco…"

"I doubt I'll get stabbed in school, I'll be fine." Leo assured.

"Well you know where to get me if anyone's causing you trouble."

"I'll be fine Justin, honestly."

* * *

><p>Reaching school, Leo had gotten used to the constant stares and whispering. It wasn't anything new.<p>

He knew his Dad's assembly would be absolutely awful, but he had to go, it would only make things worse if he didn't.

"Hey Leo, I thought Marco was meant to be back in today. I need to kill him for not answering his texts…" Lizzie began, seeing Leo's solemn expression, she stopped her rant. "Leo?"

"Marco got stabbed on Friday. He's not doing too badly at the minute, but he's still unconscious." Leo was beginning to realise telling people never got easier. He assumed it was because of the way everyone reacted, it felt like a punch in the gut every time.

"You're kidding, good one." Lizzie remarked, but Leo just shook his head, making her realise he was telling the truth.

"He's alright though, isn't he?"

"The doctors said he should be, but they'll have to see more when he's conscious."

Lizzie felt shocked, and her usually over-emotional self was confused of how to act. One part of her wanted to bawl her eyes out, another wanted to give Leo the biggest hug because he'd probably been through hell, another wanted to go detective mode and hunt down who did it, as well as many more. It was ironically mind numbing.

"Oh my god, Leo." Lizzie sniffed, wiping stray tears in her eyes. "Are you okay? I mean you and him…"

"…I'm dealing with it. " Leo nodded. "I know he's getting better, so I'm trying to keep high spirits."

* * *

><p>The dreaded assembly dawned on Leo quicker than he thought it would, and after saying he was fine yesterday, he was regretting even thinking it was a good idea. He sat in one of the laid out seats staring at his shoes avoiding eye contact with anyone.<p>

"Right everyone, settle down. I'd like to wish everyone a warm welcome back, and hope you all had a good weekend and are ready to get back to work."

The whole school groaned, including some of the teachers around the sides of the hall.

"I've called an assembly to share some news with you all, which sadly, isn't good news."

This was making Leo feel sick. He'd heard people say it before, he didn't know _why_ it was bothering him so much, but by the way he was shaking, he knew he was probably stupid not to take his Dad up on his offer to stay off yesterday.

"Marco Fletcher, in Year 11 was stabbed on Friday. He's currently in hospital in a stable condition, but isn't conscious yet."

The hall erupted into mutterings and shocked faces. Leo couldn't bring himself to look around; he knew people's reactions would only just make him feel even worse.

"This is a police matter, so I need you all to keep calm if you see them on the premises, and please speak to someone if you know anything, so we can help with the investigation as much as we can.

Sorry to be the bringer of bad news this morning, we all wish Marco a speedy recovery and hope he's soon back with us here at Waterloo Road."

When the assembly hall began to empty, Leo really just needed time to sit and pull himself together, but Mrs Lowsley quickly ushered him to her lesson.

Her lack of caring towards the situation was annoying Leo, no matter if she liked Marco or not, there was no reason to be so nonchalant about it.

Leo took a seat by the lockers, running his hand through his hair.

"Leo, I thought I already, get to class."

"I need a minute." Leo replied walking to the front of the school.

"Leo, you Dad's just in there. I doubt he'd be impressed if I told him you were refusing to go to classes."

Leo just took a deep breath and made his way to class, slumping in his seat, receiving completely different looks from his classmates.

"Do you know what happened?"

"Yeah, do you know who stabbed him?"

"Was it you?"

"Did they do it because he's going out with you?"

"I heard Marco's family were loaded, do you think it was for the money?"

Each time, Miss Mulgrew would warn the pupils with a "that's enough" or something similar.

Leo tried to block out the questions. He didn't want this; he wanted everyone to just stop. Sadly, it continued into next lesson, and since Mrs Lowsley couldn't control her class, she was basically letting them say that stuff to him.

"You know, I'd feel shit, my partner lying nearly dead in a hospital, because I was too selfish to think how bad it was for them."

Leo couldn't take it anymore. He grabbed his bag and walked out, as Mrs Lowsley shouted for him.

"Where do you think you're going; we're having a test?"

Leo just ignored her and carried on walking, he honestly had no clue where he was going; he just couldn't stay somewhere so awful any longer.

He knew he was in trouble, but he just didn't care. It was completely his fault that Marco was where he was, how could he face him when he was awake?

Marco would hate him, along with everyone else.

"Leo, what are you doing out of lessons?" Mrs Budgen asked, seeing him in the foyer.

Unable to fathom an answer, Leo just shrugged.

"You know you're allowed to be upset about Marco. It's human." She said, sitting next to him.

Leo just nodded, looking at his shoes.

"You're being brave you know, pet." Maggie stated. "I can only imagine it's a horrible thing to go through."

"Thanks, but I'm fine." Leo sighed.

"I am your registration teacher you know. You can tell me if you want to go home." Maggie hinted, seeing through Leo's lie.

Leo was unsure what to do. He would just fester sitting at home, as his thoughts ate away at him, but if he stayed, he'd probably want to leave every single class because of the idiots at the school.

"I can speak to your Dad if you want."

"No, I'll do it." Leo replied determinedly.

Maggie nodded. "As long as you're alright, pet."

Leo just nodded. "Thanks Mrs Budgen."

As she walked away, Leo made his way to his Dad's office, entering, it caught the attention of Sonya.

"Hi Leo, what can I do for you" She asked in her usual chirpy tone.

"Do you know if my Dad's busy?" Leo asked.

"Erm… yeah. The police are in there. I think they're talking about what happened on Friday." Sonya gossiped.

"_Of course they are."_

Leo thought, knowing he wouldn't be catching a break today.

Just then he heard his office door open, and his Dad popped his head round the door.

"Sonya, could you get Leo from his…" He began, stopping when he saw his son in the office waiting area.  
>"Leo, you don't look well."<p>

"I'm fine." He mumbled, his Dad not believing him.

"I should've never let you come in today." Vaughn sighed. "The police are here, they just want to ask you a few things, if you're up to it."

Leo knew saying no would just make everything worse, even though he didn't want to, he knew it would help.

Leo entered the office, where the police officers explained it was investigative, and he wasn't going to get in any trouble.

So they asked Leo questions, about Marco that day, and he was completely honest with them, as hard as it was. He told them about how Brandon was seeking revenge, and the police were alerted when they were talking about messages.

"Did he tell you about this meeting?" One asked.

"Yeah, he told me he was texting me and I was trying to tell him not to go, but Brandon must've blackmailed him into it, since he told me they'd hurt me if he didn't go."

"Can we see these texts?"

"Yeah, they're on my phone." Leo pulled his phone out his pocket and got the conversation up. The police took photos for evidence of the conversation and continued to question Leo.

Leo answered all the questions, though, he knew it was obvious who did it to them, the police needed a statement from Marco as solid evidence before they'd make any arrests, which (in Leo's opinion) was only fair, even if it dragged it out longer than it needed to be. When it was finally over, and the police left, Leo sighed a breath of relief that it was finally over.

"Now, about you staying here I think it's best you go home, and I let your teachers know."

"Dad, I'll be fine…"

"…Leo, you can't just keep leaving your classes. You're obviously not in the right headspace. It's perfectly normal for people to need time off in a situation like this."

"I guess so." Leo sighed. "I was meant to do a science test today though, end of module stuff."

Vaughn sighed, knowing Leo was persisting he at least got some work done. "Fine, you can sit in the cooler and complete your test, once you've done that, I want you to get some lunch and go home, that's final."

Leo, knowing that was the best he was going to get, nodded. "Thanks Dad." He smiled, leaving the cooler.

The test was at least something to take his mind off things, being centre of attention really wasn't Leo's forte, so the best he could forget about it, the better. Or so he thought.

He sat outside getting some air before his hour in the cooler, but the peace was soon destroyed by his phone ringing, even though Leo was sure he'd put it on silent. The number was unknown, and Leo debated on whether or not he should answer, but curiosity got the better of him, and he picked up the phone.

"Hello?" He answered cautiously.

"Hello Leo, It's Marco's Dad."

Not having a clue on how Marco's Dad ended up with his number, Leo decided not to question it, and listen to what he had to say.

"I've just had a call from the hospital, and since we're in London, we want someone to be there, so ask your Dad in you can first, but try and get the hospital in the next hour or two."

"Why?" Leo asked.

"That's when the doctors say Marco will probably wake up."

**AN:OMGGGGG**

**Thanks for the reads reviews favourites and follows, I love you all as much as I love Fizzy drinks 3**

**See you next chapter! Xxxx**


	29. Chapter 29

**Disclaimer: I do not own Waterloo Road or any characters mentioned.**

**Chapter 29**

Leo literally couldn't believe what he was hearing. Once his phone call had ended, he went straight to his Dad's office.

"Dad, do you know how I said I need to do the science test?"

"Yes, even though you can re-sit it later."

"Can I? It's just I really need to get to the hospital." Leo replied urgently

"Why? What's happened?"

"Apparently Marco's going to make up in the next hour or two, and his family can't be there, and they asked if I could, so he's not waking up on his own. If that's okay with you."

Vaughn just smiled; Leo looked brighter than he had in days, thankfully.

"Go on. I'll drop you off. I don't have any appointments for a while."

"Are you sure, I mean I can get the bus."

"I'm sure." Vaughn insisted. He popped his head around the door to tell Sonia he was leaving for a short time and would be back as soon as possible.

* * *

><p>After being dropped off at the hospital, Leo got himself another awful hot chocolate and made his way to Marco's room and sat on the lumpy green hospital seat.<p>

The number of machines and wires on the boy's body had decreased dramatically since the first time he'd seen him, and his skin had regained some colour, even if he was still a bit pale and sickly.

Leo began to panic. Wondering if Marco blamed him, if he didn't want to see him. The thoughts were buzzing round his head, making him on edge, and not even his hot chocolate would calm him down.

It had been about an hour and a half, and there was no real sign of him waking up. His muscles would twitch now and then, but there was nothing to warrant any different news.

That was, until Leo felt Marco's fingers tighten round his. He immediately turned his attention to the tired smile on Marco's face. Leo couldn't stop himself smiling. He was over the moon Marco was there, and present.

"Hi Leo." He spoke softly. "How long have you been here?"

"About an hour and a half." Leo answered.

"Another question, how long have I been here?" Marco asked.

"About 4 days."

"Wow, I've been asleep that long and I'm still fucking tired." Marco joked, but then turned deadly serious. "I'm so sorry. I should've listened to you. I couldn't have him hurt you."

"You don't need to apologise, it was me who should've stopped you going in the first place. It's my fault."

"You think it's your fault." Marco questioned, and by the long silence, he took that as a yes. "You didn't know. I didn't know. Brandon had the knife; he was the one who stuck a knife in my stomach." Marco began wincing as he tried to sit up. "We promised didn't we?"

Leo sniffled, wiping away the tears in his eyes.

"What? Don't cry. I'm sorry." Marco panicked, Leo just shook his head.

"I was just terrified you weren't going to make it."

This hit Marco hard, was what he did that reckless? Did he really do that?

"I have though." Marco replied, squeezing Leo's hand. "I'll be a lot more careful now, I promise."

"You better; I don't think I can cope with this frequently." Leo joked, Marco chuckling, and then wincing when his stomach hurt.

"Damn these stitches are awful." Marco complained. "Plus my ankle is killing me."

"The doctor couldn't take you in for an X-ray until you were stable, but they think it's broken."

"Great." Marco sighed sarcastically. "It makes me pleased my house doesn't have stairs."

"You're probably not going home today." Leo reminded him. "You've _just_ woken up; you need to be well before you leave."

"Yeah, I'll have to ring my parents; they'll have to know I'm okay…"

"…They know. They're gutted they left last night."

"They were here." Marco questioned, then looked at the cards left for him, reaching to read it, it was a card written for him by his family.

"You might not always see eye to eye, but they're great people. Your Dad rang me when the hospital said you were due to wake up, so you didn't have to wake up on your own."

"He did?" Marco said in disbelief.

"Yeah, he was gutted he couldn't get there in time himself. He wanted someone there before you woke up."

Marco smiled. "I'm guessing you met them then."

"Yeah, they're nice."

Marco just smiled, pleased Leo liked his family. "I just need to win yours over now.

"My Dad's coming round quite quickly, and my mum was really happy."

"Ah, so she's doing well?"

"She's much better than the last time I'd seen her. We're going to see her every Sunday until she leaves the clinic."

"That's great." Marco grinned, still looking exhausted. "I'm so glad to hear she's well."

"She wants to meet you when she's well."

"Tell her I'm looking forward to it." Marco replied.

"You need to get well too."

"I'm fine." Marco said unconvincingly. "I'm a little worse for ware, but I'll be back to my usual self in no time."

"Don't rush it; you know it's not just going to take two minutes for you to get better."

"Sadly. I fucking hate hospitals." Marco grumbled.

"They don't serve nice hot chocolate either." Leo sneered at his half-empty lukewarm hot chocolate. "Don't try it. It's awful."

"Why'd you buy it then?" Marco wondered.

"The coffee's worse, and the tea looks horrendous, I'm not even going to try it. I need something to do while I sit here. You've hardly been talkative these past few days."

"You've been more than one day? Why?"

"I was being stupid, and thought you'd wake up."

Marco then looked at the clock on his bed side table. "You're missing school."

"My dad let me off. I've had to talk to the police and stuff so it was a lighter note for the day."

"The police?" Marco's eyes widened. He wasn't taking this as well as he thought he would.

Leo, not wanting to stress him out too much, decided to avert the subject.

"Something school related, they needed statements from loads of people." Leo lied. He felt terrible, but he knew the last thing Marco needed was stress.

"Never a dull moment in that place." Marco yawned and shook his head.

"You should probably get some rest, you look exhausted."

"But you've wanted me awake for days."

"Yeah, but you'll make yourself worse if you don't rest. Don't worry about me, worry about yourself."

"You don't have to stay if you don't want to."

"Do you want me to stay?"

"It doesn't really matter; I'm going to be asleep either way. You might as well do something productive."

Leo nodded, standing up from his chair.

"If you're going, charge my phone, it's dead and I don't know how long I'll be in here without entertainment."

Leo just chuckled, grabbing Marco's phone.

After everything, some things never changed.

**AN: So he's awake - yay! One note, I'm so annoyed at Leo right now omg (if you saw last nights episode you know why) **

**You may know (or not) I've started a new story as well as this one called Young and Reckless, and if you fancy checking it out that would be cool (shameless self-promo, lol)**

**Thanks for all the reviews, reads, follows and favourites, you guys are awesome! :3 **

**See you next chapter! Xxx**


	30. Chapter 30

**Disclaimer: I do not own Waterloo Road or any characters mentioned.**

**Chapter 30**

A few days, and many ward changes later, Marco was completely over it, and couldn't wait to leave, but of course, being under 18, he needed a parent or guardian to sign the papers so he could be discharged from hospital. So, the usual wait for the weekend seemed to take twice as long, as all he wanted was to go home.

The worst part was the police coming to speak to him, and the fact Leo had decided to ignore that fact. He would've preferred knowing, rather than the surprise of being questioned by the police, but apparently, Brandon got arrested not long afterwards, so that was alright, though it wasn't exactly helping with Marco's psyche; he was a bit stressed about having to try and go home alone.

So, when Saturday finally rolled around, he couldn't be happier. He was delighted to see his parents, who were equally as happy to see him. They talked for a bit, before the signed the papers and got him out of the hospital. Marco hobbled out of the doors on his crutches and made his way to his parents' car.

"Do you think you should maybe stay with someone while you're on crutches, in case you need a hand?" His Dad asked. "The school has a boarding house, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, and enough stairs to kill myself on." Marco replied. "I'd rather deal with home."

"As long as you're sure." His mum insisted. "You know the doctor said it was best if you stayed with someone, this kind of thing can take a toll, psychologically."

"I'm fine." Marco snapped. "I don't need a shrink to tell me that."

"Marco, you're allowed to feel something about it. You can't forget it ever happened."

"Really? Because it's been working out alright so far."

His parents sighed, knowing his stubbornness would eventually get the better of him.

Marco just didn't want anyone to stress any more than they already were. Being honest with himself, he was terrified, in case Marco got his mates ready to finish the job, or the trial, or the fact he'd have to face school, and they probably knew.

The list was just getting longer.

"You've gone awfully quiet Marco."

"I'm just thinking." Marco sighed. "I've missed so much school. I'm going to be drowning in catch up work."

"There are more important things."

* * *

><p>Marco dreaded it, but the time came round for his parents to leave, and he never realised how big and empty the house felt when he was alone.<p>

He thought how easy it would be for someone to be hiding somewhere.

Trying to shift those awful thoughts out his head, he tried numbing his brain with terrible TV, which only made him even worse. He was avoiding any horror movie like the plague.

"_What the hell is wrong with me?"_

The time was dragging by, but Marco decided to try get to bed and sleep it off, assuming it was his fatigued mind playing tricks on him, only, he couldn't be more wrong.

He fell asleep quite quickly, but as he slept, he tossed and turned, the images in his head were brutal. Someone was out to get him, he was sure of it. What happened would replay in his head constantly, only getting worse and worse. With Brandon's smile getting more warped and twisted.

"Stop!" He shouted, sitting up, cringing at the pain in his stomach. Cursing under his breath, he turned to check the time, and groaned as it was only 3AM and he wasn't going to get back to sleep any time soon. He just lay staring at the ceiling, wondering why his head was being so strange.

He couldn't say anything, it was so early in the morning, and he'd caused so much stress already. Leo was going to see his mum later so he couldn't wake him up complaining he was having flashbacks. He'd think he was crazy.

"_Maybe I am going crazy?"_ Marco panicked.

* * *

><p>The rest of the weekend was awful, Marco felt super paranoid, and he couldn't pick up a knife without having vivid images of what happened flashing into his head.<p>

He felt bad for telling Leo he was fine, but he really didn't need the lecture about therapy again. He didn't want to go, and that was that. He didn't feel as if it would help.

He was exhausted, but every time he tried to sleep, he was immediately standing in the same spot he was when he got stabbed. Every. Single. Time.

* * *

><p>When he limped into school on his crutches, everyone looked quite shocked to see him in school so soon, even Leo was shocked, since he hadn't really been his usual talkative self since he'd left hospital, but he insisted he was just tired.<p>

"What are you doing in?" He asked.

"Going to school, like everyone else. I have a broken ankle, not a fractured spine." Marco shrugged, uncomfortable with the looks everyone was giving him.

"Yeah, but it's been little over a week, you're allowed time off."

"I'd just fester being inside for too long." Marco insisted. "I'd rather be where I can keep myself busy."

"I just thought, because you still look really tired."

"I'm fine, my stomach just keeps waking me up that's all. I'll move the wrong way and it'll hurt."

"And you think coming to school will be any better."

"I can hit someone with my crutches if they try anything." Marco joked. The two boys' attention was switched to Leo's Dad as he called Marco's name.

"How are you feeling?" Vaughn asked.

"Ready to get back. Hospitals really aren't my thing."

"Well if you need any assistance with catching up you know there's always someone for you to talk to."

"Thanks, but I should be alright." Marco insisted, wishing everyone would stop feeling sorry for him.

Marco found out navigating the hallways of Waterloo Road on crutches was not an easy task, so trying to get to his English class for first lesson was a nightmare. Finally reaching the class, he zoned into everything that was happening, trying to block out anything that wasn't work. He had to stop the thoughts getting into his head somehow.

Even Mrs Lowsley was shocked by Marco's attitude, answering questions, working extremely quickly and quietly. Though for her, it was pleasant.

Art was probably the worst lesson for Marco to try and get to, with the stairs being awkward. He was certain he'd have arms like the hulk by the time his crutches were taken away.

"MARCO!" Lizzie greeted, running up to him, and stopping, realising he was on crutches, not wanting to knock him down.

"Lizzie!" Marco greeted in a less enthusiastic tone.

"I'm so happy to see you! You never fail to scare me" She laughed, putting a hand on Marco's shoulder. He immediately tensed up, making Lizzie remove her hand, and look at him concernedly.

"Are you okay?"

"Fine." Marco chirped happily, completely disregarding what had just happened, sitting in his seat, where a few people shot him sympathetic glances.

"I wish people would stop treating me like a charity case. I'm hardly dead am I?" Marco grumbled.

"They're just worried. You hardly look like you should be back at school." Lizzie sighed.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Marco, it looks like you haven't slept in days and you keep zoning out and you're acting really weird."

"I don't know what you mean. I'm fine." Marco shrugged, clearly annoyed at Lizzie's concern.

The lesson was going by without too many hiccups, that was, until Tiffany asked for a craft knife for her project.

All Marco could do, was stare at it, as his hands started to shake.

Lizzie looked over to her firmed, who really didn't look well.

"Marco, Marco." She tried to catch his attention, which wdidn't work.

"Marco!" She said louder, snapping him out of his trance.

"What?" He snapped.

"Come on, speak to me, there's something up. You were looking at that knife like Tiffany was a criminal."

"I'm fine." He growled.

**AN: Marco isn't coping as well as he thought he would. **

**Thanks for all the reviews reads follows and favourites. I love you all ^3^**

**See you all next chapter xxx**


	31. Chapter 31

**Disclaimer: I do not own Waterloo Road or any characters mentioned.**

**Chapter 31**

"Leo!" He heard his name being called by Marco's usually up-beat friend with a concerned look on her face.

"Hey, what's up?" He asked.

"Has Marco been acting strange to you? He's just left art and went straight to the library, saying he had a ton of work to do."

"He's not really been speaking much; he seems quite tired, why? What's he done?"

"More like what he hasn't. He zoned out in art, and just started staring at Tiffany's craft knife like he was possessed. I'm worried he isn't coping as well as he's trying to let on."

"You said he's in the library?"

"Yeah, tread carefully. I wouldn't take anything he says to seriously. He's quite agitated."

Leo just nodded, and made his way to the library, where Marco was typing furiously skimming through his SA as best as he could at the speed he was typing.

"Marco, are you alright?" Leo asked.

"Oh my god! Will everyone just stop asking me that? I'm fine!" Marco snapped saving his SA then getting up to leave.

"Marco, you're not fine. What the hell is wrong with you?" Leo asked, annoyed at Marco being so off beat. He was always the one who tried to be honest.

"Leo, will you just leave me alone?" I'm fine!" Marco shouted, hobbling out of the library. He ran his hands through his hair, the stress was too much. The flashbacks were becoming more frequent, clearer, sometimes; he felt the pain of the knife in his stomach as he saw what he had.

The bell ringing made him jump as he clutched his head, trying to get the ringing to stop.

"This isn't normal." He whispered to himself, slouching against the lockers whilst avoiding the crowds, trying to correct his breathing, though it felt as if his breathing couldn't slow down, ever.

He gathered himself enough to make his way to art, barely being able to smile as he entered the classroom late.

Lizzie tried to speak to him, but he just blocked her out. He could barely breathe, never mind speak to her. What was captivating him was the craft knife. His breathing was becoming heavier, as if he couldn't get enough air into his lungs, no matter how much he was breathing.

As the rest of the class also got craft knives, it was all becoming too much for Marco, as he felt his heart reaching, and all of these knives were going to kill him, and they would, easily.

He was shaking badly, and people were starting to notice.

"Marco." Lizzie said calmly, trying to comfort Marco.

"Don't." He snapped.

"What's the problem? Marco, why haven't you got your craft knife yet, everyone else is nearly finished." Miss Westbrook asked.

Marco just nodded and shakily took the knife Lizzie had passed him. He held it in his hand, trembling as he held it.

He couldn't do it.

Not at all.

He dropped the knife on the desk and quickly gathered his stuff, before making his way out the classroom as quick as he could, given his circumstances.

"Marco, where are you going? Marco?" Miss Westbrook shouted, Marco completely ignoring her.

"I'll go and get him Miss. I don't think he's feeling great." Lizzie said, quickly making her way out the classroom.

* * *

><p>Marco sat on the chairs in the lobby and tried to stop himself shaking. This wasn't right. He felt sick.<p>

He didn't know what to feel. Scared, stupid, alone.

Yet he felt like talking to people would only alienate him even more.

"Marco, you need to breathe." Lizzie said walking slowly towards him.

"I'm not a fucking serial killer Lizzie; don't look at me like I'm a monster."

"What else am I meant to do? You're so bloody unpredictable I don't know what the hell you're going to do."

"Then why are you here?"

"You've just walked out of class Marco, there's something up."

"None of it concerns you. Keep your nose out of other people's business."

"Fine, but I bet Mr Fitzgerald will love to hear this. You've only just come back from exclusion."

"Don't Lizzie! Do you not know when enough is enough?"

"Then why are you having panic attacks at craft knives?"

"Hmm I don't know Lizzie, use your head on why I might not want to be around knives right now."

The bell rang, and the lobby began to flood with students.

"I'm not doing this now Lizzie. Not in front of everyone."

"Why not, Marco? It's clear to see you're unwell."

"Just drop it!" Marco snapped angrily, making his way outside, away from Lizzie.

"What's up?" Leo asked.

"He's really unwell." Lizzie sighed. "He freaked out in art since we were using craft knives."

Leo sighed, and made his way to find Marco, which wasn't difficult. He was at a point at a school, sitting on the floor with his crutches lying beside him.

"Leo, will you fuck off, I'm not in the mood." Marco sighed, not making eye contact with him.

"No, Marco, we're worried about you."

"Why?"

"You're obviously exhausted, you're acting really weird, and you're moody as hell."

"It's nothing I can't deal with."

"Obviously." Leo replied sarcastically. "Look, whatever it is, you can tell me."

"I can't." Marco shook his head, "You'll think I've gone mad."

"I think you're mad already, you can't change that one." Leo joked.

"I can't sleep, I can't be awake. It's everywhere. I can't get away from it."

Leo just listened; worried at the state Marco was in.

"It's like it'll never end. It replays in my head over and over, like it's going to happen again and again. It won't stop."

"Marco, you need to tell someone, it'll only get worse."

"No, I can't, they'll think I'm mad, they'll send me back to hospital. Everyone will think I'm a psycho."

"Nobody will think that. You've probably come back to school too son, that's all."

"I haven't. It would've been just as bad at home."

"You know Marco, it's the last thing you want to hear, but you really need to speak with someone about it. It's more than just a nightmare."

"I can't."

"But you can't go on like this until Brandon's trial. You'll make yourself really ill."

"I can't." Marco replied void of emotion. "I can't do this Leo."

"You're doing it now. You've done the hardest bit by getting yourself in."

"I can't do this." Marco replied shakily. "I need it out of my head, everyone keeps bringing it up and it just makes me remember it even more."

"You can't just forget it never happened. It was a big deal."

"Why not? If I could then maybe this would all stop, but everyone constantly brings it up, all the time."

"Nobody's brought it up as much as you have."

"I can't help it if every single thing I do seems to remind me of something that happened before or during when it happened."

"I think you need to talk it through with someone, you're just going to make yourself worse."

"_How_ can it get any worse Leo? I drop down dead? I get taken away in an ambulance because I've gone mad? Because that is exactly what is going to happen."

"Look Marco, I need to tell someone."

"No! Leo, don't you dare." Marco panicked.

"Marco this isn't right. Look at yourself."

"Oh, so now you're embarrassed to be seen with me."

"No, I didn't say that." Leo replied in the same annoyed tone. "You need to listen to me."

"Why? You want me shipped off to a loony bin like everybody else."

"No Marco, I want you well, that's different."

"Is it? Look, I'm not dealing with this right now. I have work to do." Marco sighed, struggling to his feet, and tried to hobble off.

"Marco wait, Marco." Leo sighed walking after him. He reached out to his shoulder, making Marco just think of when the group pulled him down and started hitting him.

"Will you just get off me?!" Marco shouted, pushing Leo to the ground. Immediately he realised what he'd done.

So had everyone else.

"Marco, cooler now!"

**So I forgot to upload this for a few days, I'm sorry :S But oh I can't believe next week is the last ever episode of WR!**

**Thanks for the reviews, reads, follows and favourites, J'adore tu :D (Mixing it up a little ;D)**

**See you next chapter xxxx**


End file.
